Thousands of harp seal pups have died in eastern Canada due to a lack of ice floes, caused by global warming, conservationists say. An entire population of the seals could be wiped out if Canada鈥檚 annual seal hunt goes ahead, they warn.
Warmer sea temperatures in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence have led to a lack of ice cover. It means mother seals cannot climb onto the ice as usual and are instead forced to give birth at sea, where the pups drown.
Normally hunters go onto the sea ice in the Gulf in late March to club or shoot young seals for their pelts. They also harvest organs for Chinese medicine. So far, unusually, Canada鈥檚 Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has not announced the number of seals hunters will be allowed to take this year, apparently due to uncertainties caused by the lack of ice. The announcement is expected later this week.
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鈥淚鈥檝e been flying over the area for two days and I鈥檝e seen hardly any seals where we normally see thousands,鈥� says Sheryl Fink of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. 鈥淚鈥檝e never seen so little ice. There鈥檚 none,鈥� she told 快猫短视频.
She fears all the seals in the southern Gulf might have lost their pups, making this the biggest abrupt die-off of mammals due to global warming yet.
Disaster looms
It could get worse. There is an area of ice in the northern Gulf, where government scientists have reported about 15,000 seals 鈥� far fewer than usual. 鈥淚f they let the hunt go ahead, all the hunters will go there. The seals will be very concentrated and easy to reach because there鈥檚 so little ice.鈥�
That could be disastrous. In 2002, DFO estimates, 75% of pups in the Gulf died when there was also very little ice. Many of the seals giving birth this year were born then. 鈥淚f we now kill off their few remaining pups, it could have a serious impact,鈥� says Fink. 鈥淲e could be heading for the extirpation of harp seals in the Gulf.鈥�
One third of Canada鈥檚 annual seal hunt takes place in the Gulf, with the rest further north along the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in April. This year, the sea ice in those regions is reduced, but adequate, so the hunt should be unaffected.
In 2006, Canada allowed the killing of 335,000 seals. Some scientists say that will reduce seal numbers, but will not, as people in the hard-hit region hope, revive the collapsed cod fisheries.
