Claim: US biologists eye unusual deaths of Alaska ice seals.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Ribbon seal
text: hunt on ribbon seals in 1969, their population has recovered. The current population is around 250,000. In March 2008 the US government agreed to study Alaska's ribbon seal population and considered adding it to the endangered species list. However, in December 2008, the US government decided that sea ice critical to the seals' survival will not be endangered by global warming, and declined to list the species. Instead, it became a U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service Species of Concern. The US Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), has some concerns regarding status and threats of

title: Mass mortality event
text: An analysis of such events from 1940 to 2012 found that these events have become more common for birds, fish and marine invertebrates, but have declined for amphibians and reptiles and not changed for mammals. Harbour Seals (1988) In 1988, the death of 20,000 harbour seals in the North Sea was found to be due to phocine distemper virus. Ten years later two bacteria were implicated in the death of 1600 New Zealand sea lions. On Marion Island in 2007, some 250–300 adult male Subantarctic fur seal died in a two-week period. It was suggested but not proven that this

title: Sealand of the Pacific
text: She died in 1972, a little over 2 years after her capture; the disease which caused her albinism, Chédiak–Higashi syndrome, made her very susceptible to illness. Haida, her mate, mourned her death, and remained alone for years. Eventually, Sealand captured a female whale named Nootka II for his mate. Nootka II, however, died after 9 months. His third mate, Nootka III, was also short-lived. By the time of the death of his third mate, Haida displayed no interest in them. In 1977, Sealand captured a young orca which was found alone, emaciated, and suffering from bullet wounds. Miracle became a

title: Baikal seal
text: Baikal seal populations. The chemicals are speculated to concentrate up the food chain and weaken the Baikal seal's immune system, making them susceptible to diseases such as canine distemper and the plague, which was the cause of a serious Baikal seal epidemic that resulted in the deaths of 5,000–6,500 animals in 1987-1988. Small numbers died as recently as 2000, but the reason for their deaths is unclear. Canine distemper is still present in the Baikal seal population, but has not caused mass deaths since the earlier outbreaks. In general, levels of DDT and non-ortho PCB have declined in the lake

title: Caspian seal
text: more than 10,000 seals had died along the Kazakhstan coast. High death rates were also recorded in May and June along the Apsheron peninsula of Azerbaijan and the Turkmenistan coast. Clinical signs of infected seals included debilitation, muscle spasms, ocular and nasal exudation, and sneezing. Necropsies performed in June 2000 on eight Azerbaijan seals revealed microscopic lesions, including bronchointerstitial pneumonia, encephalitis, pancreatitis, and lymphocytic depletion in lymphoid tissues. Similar lesions were also discovered on four seals from Kazakhstan. "Morbillivirus" antigen was also detected in multiple tissues, including lung, lymph nodes, spleen, brain pancreas, liver, and epithelial tissue of the reproductive,

title: Alaska SeaLife Center
text: and invertebrates—some of which have been listed as threatened or endangered species. The Alaska SeaLife Center specializes in marine mammal and sea bird research on species including Steller sea lions, eiders, harbor seals, sea otters, fur seals and other species experiencing population declines in Alaska. Research strives to develop cutting-edge technology and techniques, while minimizing impact on the species and environment being studied. The Science Department currently includes dedicated programs for pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), eiders, sea otters, and salmon. The Alaska SeaLife Center provides care for sick and injured marine animals, yielding important information about wildlife populations. Through

title: NOAAS George B. Kelez (R 441)
text: July 1962 attended by Kelez′s mother and brother. Kelez, a fisheries scientist who was the Assistant Fisheries Administrator for the Territory of Alaska, was one of five Fish and Wildlife Service employees who died on duty in the crash of a Grumman Goose amphibious aircraft in Alaska on 1 September 1954, and the ship carried a plaque – read aloud at the ceremony – that read: United States Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Motor Ship "George B. Kelez" To inspire those who man her and those who follow her course in the great international seas, this research ship is hereby dedicated

title: Brian Davies (activist)
text: year which saw a total of 182,758 seals killed for their pelts and fat On returning to his base in Prince Edward Island, Davies found two live seal pups on the shoreline that had been taken there by sealers. He took them to his home in Oromocto where they were raised by the Davies family. A local paper ran a story on their efforts to save the seals, resulting in national media attention and an influx of funding with which the Davies would run the “Save the Seals” campaign. In 1969 the NB SPCA withdrew from the seal campaign, having

title: Spotted seal
text: 200,000 seals in or adjacent to Alaska, are not in danger of becoming extinct, nor are they likely to become so in the "foreseeable future", even though global warming has caused a loss in arctic ice mass. The announcement stated: "We do not predict the expected fluctuations in sea ice will affect them enough to warrant listing at this time." In South Korea, spotted seals have been designated Natural Monument No. 331 and second-class endangered species. This is because the seals from South Korea travel to Dalian, China to breed every year where several thousands are harvested for their genitals

title: Sealand of the Pacific
text: least one of the females (Haida II) were cited as possible causes. Sealand of the Pacific closed shortly after the incident, in November 1992. All three of the whales were sold to SeaWorld in the United States. Tilikum and Nootka IV went to SeaWorld Orlando, while Haida II and her baby Kyuquot went to SeaWorld San Antonio. Kyuquot remains in captivity at SeaWorld. Haida II died in August 2001, while Nootka IV died in 1994. Tilikum died in January 2017. Sealand of the Pacific Sealand of the Pacific was a public aquarium in South Oak Bay at The Oak Bay

title: Michael Bigg
text: with killer whales, Bigg spent most of his career studying other marine mammals. He researched northern fur seals in British Columbia and the Pribilof Islands of Alaska. In 1972, Bigg organized a sea otter conservation translocation of Pacific sea otters from Alaska to Vancouver Island, a population that continues to thrive. He also conducted research on Steller sea lions, California sea lions, and harbor seals. In 1984, Mike was diagnosed with leukemia. While ill, he continued to work to complete his final report on killer whales, and was able to see it in print shortly before he died on 18

title: NOAAS Oscar Dyson (R 224)
text: surveys marine mammal and seabird populations. In 2007 and 2008, "Oscar Dyson" took scientists to the Bering Sea so that they could capture seals on the ice there and attach satellite tags to them with which to collect movement and behavior data. To expand NOAA's ability to monitor ribbon, bearded, spotted, and ringed seals, whose broad range and remoteness from shore make surveying them using manned helicopters challenging, NOAA conducted tests of the ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aboard "Oscar Dyson" in October 2008. On 15 and 16 October 2008, scientists and technicians aboard "Oscar Dyson" conducted three successful test

title: Susan J. Crockford
text: caused by unusually thick spring ice that year, a recurring trend every decade for the past century, which led to a shortage of their preferred prey, ringed seals. Either the subsequent seal shortage or declining ice levels was the cause of an approximately 40% decrease in polar bear numbers in the Beaufort Sea area. She charges that this study, which only used data up to 2010, despite being available until 2013, used cherry picked results due to an undisclosed conflict of interest to cause the species to be categorized as "Threatened" in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's 2015

title: Arctocephalus forsteri
text: in the 18th century until the late 19th century reduced the population near to extinction. Today commercial fisheries are one of the main sources of death of New Zealand fur seals usually by entanglement and drowning. Monitoring of these pinnipeds in the Kaikoura region found that entanglements with green trawl nets and plastic strapping tape were the most common. A little less than half of the individuals were successfully released with good chances of survival even after significant entanglement wounds. It has been estimated by the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society that over 10,000 seals could have drowned in

title: Katharine Giles
text: decreased by 9%. The findings confirmed the predictions of the Pan-Arctic Ice-Ocean Modelling & Assimilation System (PIOMAS). Giles was killed whilst cycling in 2013. She had just been appointed as a lecturer at University College London. Peter Wadhams believed that the death could have been an assassination, as Giles' colleagues Seymour Laxon and Tim Boyd all died within the first few months of 2013. In 2016 it was proposed to name the new Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) research vessel (RV) /Royal Research Ship (RRS) Katharine Giles. The Association of British Science Writers (ABSW) award a Dr Katharine Giles science

title: Ringed seal
text: of ringed seals. Due to a very low level of interactions between U.S. commercial fisheries and ringed seals, the Alaska stock of ringed seals is not considered a strategic stock. On March 28, 2008, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service initiated a status review under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to determine if listing this ice seal species under the ESA is warranted. The populations living in different areas have evolved to separate subspecies, which are currently recognized as: The three last subspecies are isolated from the others, like the closely related Baikal seal and Caspian seal. This article incorporates

title: Seal hunting
text: Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), "the large majority of seals taken during this hunt (at best, 98% in work reported here) are killed in an acceptably humane manner." These veterinarians found, "During the 2001 season in the Gulf, three (1.9%) of 158 seals brought on board of the sealing vessels and directly observed by Daoust had not been killed, and in one (0.86%) of 116 interactions between seals and sealers observed on videotapes by Daoust and Crook, the seal also did not appear to have been killed before being hooked and brought on board." They thus concluded, "This small proportion of

title: Denver Zoo
text: were successfully raised by zoo staff and became a popular attraction. The bears were transferred to SeaWorld Orlando. In 2012 Snow was transferred from Sea World in Orlando, Florida to the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, Arizona, where she died unexpectedly on September 2, 2012. Klondike died at SeaWorld Orlando on September 13, 2013. Their story is commemorated at the Denver Zoo by a bronze sculpture located across from the main polar bear viewing area. On February 24, 2007, a jaguar mauled zookeeper Ashlee Pfaff inside the animal's enclosure. The jaguar was shot and killed by the zoo's emergency response

title: Seal hunting
text: territorial rights in Alaska and the adjacent islands, including the Pribilof Islands, the principal breeding-grounds of the seals in those seas. By Acts of Congress, the killing of seals was strictly regulated on the Pribiloff islands and in "the waters adjacent thereto". Beginning in about 1886, it became the practice of certain British and Canadian vessels to intercept passing seals in the open ocean (over three miles from any shore) and shoot them in the water (pelagic sealing). In the summer of 1886, three British Columbian sealers, the "Carolena", "Onward", and "Thornton", were captured by an American revenue cutter, the

title: Arctocephalus forsteri
text: nets between 1989 and 1998. They are also known to have been shot by commercial and recreational fishermen, because they are assumed to interfere with fishing gear. How often these shootings occur is unknown, but pressure groups have stated that the conflict between the seals and commercial fisheries is expected to increase. On 21 August 2014, two decomposing animals were found beheaded near Louth Bay in South Australia. The circumstances of their deaths were considered suspicious and an investigation followed their discovery. In 2015, several conservative members of Parliament encouraged public debate around the potential implementation of seal culling in