Update on the Essex Seal “Nelson” ..
Seems like “Nelson” has had its chips :
Nelson the seal is believed to have died having entered the water whilst under anaesthesia administered by a dart gun
www.essexlive.news
Grey seal numbers have increased by ridiculous amounts in the last decade, to the detriment of stocks of inshore fish!
At one time a % of them would be culled which protected those fish stocks for humans. Whatever you think of that it led to fewer but healthier grey seals!
When grey seals numbers reached almost plague proportions a couple of decades ago, nature sorted the problem. If seal colonies get too large they overlap, any disease then spreads rampant and a balance of numbers is restored. I think the last time this occured the disease was canine distemper.
Hunger probably led this seal to that lake. It is lack of food inshore that will lead to weak seals being more susceptible to disease - then numbers will decrease and the cycle will be complete - again!
Perhaps sea anglers will catch a few fish inshore sometime?
