Bird flu decimates seals

 

The New York Times reported that the bird flu has decimated elephant seal populations on South Georgia Island.

According to the Times, researchers estimate the island lost 50,000 female elephant seals to bird flu since 2023. While the flu is devastating to birds, it also infects many mammals.

South Georgia is a remote and wild place the size of Rhode Island that lies in the Southern Ocean between Argentina and Antarctica. It's a wildlife mecca for photographers because of the enormous colonies of king penguins, fur seals and elephants seals that live here surrounded by its amazing mountain scenery. I visited in 2022 and it did not disappoint.

When the smaller fur seals weren't fighting each other, they were trying to rip my face off. I've been around dangerous animals for much of my life, but it was completely unnerving to hold my ground against a charging fur seal. Luckily, they were all bark, but their bite is no joke!

Fur seal pups and penguins alike fear the bigger leopard seals that prowl the shallows. I was lucky enough to see this leopard seal hunt down a king penguin. It was the animal I most wanted to see on my visit.

While fur seals were a menace, elephant seals just wanted to find a playmate. Did we just become best friends?

The southern elephant seal is the largest seal in the world, stretching as much as 20 feet long and weighing four tons. But they don't have a mean bone in their body — as long as you're not another elephant seal.

Two enormous northern elephant seal bulls go head-to-head during the breeding season at Piedras Blancas in California.

A beachmaster stakes out a section of beach in California. The big bull elephant seals were far out at sea when I visited South Georgia, but this northern cousin shows how they got their name.

During breeding season, the biggest beachmasters stake out sections of surf that they defend in fights that can be intense. The biggest males had already gone back to deep water when I visited in December of 2022. But these juveniles were playful. The ice-strengthened Ortelius is moored in the background.

Juvenile seals practice the art of fighting from a young age.

We were on guard for bird flu when we visited the island and limited our exploration to prevent spreading bird guano from one group of penguins or skuas to another. We also were not permitted to sit anywhere on the island or bring tripods or bags for the same reason. We endured painstaking inspections of our clothing and boots that we spent hours as a group meticulously cleaning with brushes and even safety pins the night before to prevent the spread of invasive plant seeds that might be lurking in creases or velcro. And we washed the boots in disinfectant before heading ashore and when we returned to the ship. 

A pup takes a curious sniff of our emergency gear. The concern about bird flu was justified. Penguins live in tight colonies, so a contagious virus could have devastating consequences.

The good news is that wildlife on South Georgia is resilient and has recovered from horrifying losses in the past. During the whaling era, people nearly wiped out every seal on the island. But when whaling ended in 1965, seal populations came roaring back.

Today, South Georgia is protected for wildlife, leaving only the hulking remains of the whaling industry as a reminder of our recklessness.

So with hope elephant seals will rebound quickly on this island that has become a sanctuary for the animals and birds who live here.