![]() ![]() But many fishermen say the seals interfere with fishing charters and steal catch. But scientists say conservation efforts, an abundance of food and migration from Canada combined to revive the population.Įnvironmentalists cheer the resurgence, saying the grey seal boost is good for biodiversity and a boon for popular seal watch tours in coastal New England. “ The once-thriving New England grey seal population was decimated by the mid-20th century because of hunting, with Massachusetts keeping a seal bounty on the books until the 1960s. In the 2000s, the population of grey seals around Cape Cod had exploded – in 2013, there were about 16,000 seals but this year, more than 25,000 were counted (the exact figure won’t be available until later this year).Ī CTV News report a few years ago (Patrick Whittle, 21 July 2014, “ Grey seals: As numbers rise, so do conflicts”) summed up the phenomenon and ensuing problems rather succinctly: See the details on the great white shark/seal conundrum below and decide for yourself. The parallels of EATEN with this developing shark situation are more than a little unnerving and makes it clear that my piece of speculative fiction may apply to more than polar bears. I’ve already imagined what could go wrong – in my polar bear attack thriller, EATEN. UPDATE: video now available on Youtube, see below: Specifically, it was the episode called “Shark Bait” (1 July 2016) – about the potentially explosive problem of booming populations of grey seals around Cape Cod (NE US, Massachusetts), the increasing numbers of great white sharks that are moving in to hunt them (see trailers here and here), and the thousands of relatively blasé humans that play and surf in the shallows nearby. I watched an episode of Discovery Channel’s Shark Week last Friday and I have to admit, it gave me a terrifying déjà vu moment. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |