Seal 'corkscrew' deaths update

The Sea Mammal Research Unit at St Andrews has released its preliminary findings of investigations into the causes of the recent spate of 'corkscrew' injuries to seals. There's a detailed pdf you can download here.

I'm not going to get all smug and say 'I told you so', but their findings point to some sort of ducted propeller system on ships operating in shallow coastal waters. They say they have eliminated most other possibilities include the effects of fisheries, deliberate killing, the effects of illegal traps and predation by killer whales or sharks.

I suppose the challenge now is to find the ship(s) responsible and get some sort of guard fitted pronto.

UPDATE: Despite a TV documentary suggesting it's Greenland sharks, the shark scientists themselves say it's ducted propellers - see here. It's beginning to look as if it's ultimately the stampede for useless windfarms that has caused these seal deaths. The eco-loonys have a lot to answer for, but it will be years before we understand the full extent of the damage they are doing.

What's killing seals?

While I was in Skye, there was much talk among local fishermen about what might be causing the horrific injuries to seals - more than 50 have washed up with a deep spiral gash around their bodies, sometimes going from head to tail with a couple of turns around the body.

Many of the people I spoke to were deeply suspicious of experimental tidal power installations, although there were conspiracy theories about secret nuclear submarines and the like. Some newspaper stories suggested fishermen as one possibility, although none I've seen so far has blamed gamekeepers - it can only be a matter of time!

A Canadian scientist is suggesting it might be Greenland sharks, which sounds to me about as likely as sea eagles.

The Scottish Agricultural College set up a blog for discussion of possible causes. The best theory I've seen so far involves some sort of propeller like this: