Cannibalistic attacks between gray seals leave telltale “corkscrew” injuries
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Re: Cannibalistic attacks between gray seals leave telltale “corkscrew” injuries
#2Ah, nature thats more like it. Less wholesome, more cthullu.
Re: Cannibalistic attacks between gray seals leave telltale “corkscrew” injuries
#3I once lived in an apartment in Colorado with a balcony overlooking a pond. Once a grebe was paddling around in it followed by four chicks. It was a great image for the Colorado Tourism Office. Then mamma grebe swam back and swallowed the fourth chick whole, and the smaller family paddled away.
Brood reduction isn't common in grebes, but I saw it anyway, and thought maybe I didn't get the straight dope from Disney movies growing up.
Re: Cannibalistic attacks between gray seals leave telltale “corkscrew” injuries
#4The ending reminds me of the “Americans are obsessed with protein” article
Re: Cannibalistic attacks between gray seals leave telltale “corkscrew” injuries
#5Perhaps this is somewhat like male lions killing cubs that are not immediately theirs? Do the seals kill their own pups? Difficult to study, I guess.
Re: Cannibalistic attacks between gray seals leave telltale “corkscrew” injuries
#6I once lived in an apartment in Colorado with a balcony overlooking a pond. Once a grebe was paddling around in it followed by four chicks. It was a great image for the Colorado Tourism Office. Then mamma grebe swam back and swallowed the fourth chick whole, and the smaller family paddled away. Brood reduction isn't common in grebes, but I saw it anyway, and thought maybe I didn't get the straight dope from Disney mo…
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HawFh7RvDM4RyoJ2d/three-worl...
Same energy as this short story.
Re: Cannibalistic attacks between gray seals leave telltale “corkscrew” injuries
#7Oddly enough, I've seen a similar injury on a dolphin before. Well, the head was missing, but the cutoff point could be described as "corkscrew". None of us had a good idea of the cause, but this hints it may have been predation or scavenging.
Re: Cannibalistic attacks between gray seals leave telltale “corkscrew” injuries
#8I find the final question about human intervention fascinating.
The scientists aren’t recommending intervention, even if the perpetrators tend to be the same few individuals. “We don’t know how natural it is,” says Ursula Siebert, a veterinary pathologist specializing in wildlife population health at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover who was not involved with the work. “It can definitely be hard to watch,” Langley adds. “But the life of a seal—and indeed any wild animal—is tough.”
Re: Cannibalistic attacks between gray seals leave telltale “corkscrew” injuries
#9I find the final question about human intervention fascinating. The scientists aren’t recommending intervention, even if the perpetrators tend to be the same few individuals. “We don’t know how natural it is,” says Ursula Siebert, a veterinary pathologist specializing in wildlife population health at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover who was not involved with the work. “It can definitely be hard to watch…
We’ve a storied history of making ecological interventions without fully understanding the consequences. Doing the work to fully understand the consequences is time consuming and expensive. IMO it comes a position of leaving well enough alone.
Re: Cannibalistic attacks between gray seals leave telltale “corkscrew” injuries
#10I once lived in an apartment in Colorado with a balcony overlooking a pond. Once a grebe was paddling around in it followed by four chicks. It was a great image for the Colorado Tourism Office. Then mamma grebe swam back and swallowed the fourth chick whole, and the smaller family paddled away. Brood reduction isn't common in grebes, but I saw it anyway, and thought maybe I didn't get the straight dope from Disney mo…
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