A
Reuters photographer saw scores of seal carcasses on beaches in
Cape Town and along the rugged Atlantic Ocean coastline north of
the city last week. Several more dead seals were floating in the
water.
James-Brent Styan, spokesman for the Western Cape province's
environment department, said seal deaths at this time of year
were normal, but not to this extent.
"Not on the levels we are currently experiencing, so that is why
we are so concerned," he said. "One of the early theories is
that it might be malnutrition, lots of the seal carcasses are
small, but it is only a theory."
The provincial government said last week that it had buried
almost 200 seals.
Styan said officials hoped to have more information once reports
come back from the state veterinary service.
Experts believe an Avian Influenza epidemic affecting wild
seabirds in the Western Cape is probably not behind the latest
spate of seal deaths.
(Reporting by Mike Hutchings and Sisipho Skweyiya, Writing by
Alexander Winning, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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