Carlisle's DogsAll about endangered species

The Alaska Ringed Seals are the animals polar bears prey on for food. Just a few days ago, the National Marine Fisheries Service along with the North Slope Borough announced a mysterious disease affecting these seals.

The seals were found to have lesions inside their mouth and on their hind flippers. Many seals are injured while some have died. Also alarming is the fact that seals rarely come close to the shore. Their natural habitat is away from humans. As of October 12, 46 have died and 107 were found stranded. When they were found by the Alaska Dispatch, the seals appeared to be very weak with difficulty in breathing.

Doctors have done autopsies on the dead seals and noticed that the lesions extend to their internal organs like their liver, brain, heart, and lymphoid system. And it isn’t something isolated because wildlife conservationists and groups from Russia and Canada have also reported the same situation. While Canada reports that only the seals appear to be infected, the US has included walruses and other seal species on their list.

Right now, the tests show negative for known possible diseases like herpes, pox, papillomavirus, calicivirus and morbilivirus. Scientists are baffled and have not even ruled out possible transfer to humans. There has been a bulletin issued warning against eating seal meat until the problem has been diagnosed.

One theory being thrown around is the fact that there is less ice and snow cover because of global warming. The seals could be affected by this. If so, it boils down once more to humans disrupting the lives of animals for economic gain. Hunting is being ruled out because the season is over. Seal hunting is done during the spring months which is long past and no cases of seals with this problem were seen then.

For now, these ringed seals are far from being endangered. There are many of them, too many to count as some would say. However, if this problem continues, we may be facing a serious problem as food source for polar bears, humans, and possibly being listed as endangered.