Cause of grey seal die-off identified
Photo credit: Pierre-Yves Daoust
In March 2012, we reported a mortality event of young grey seals off the coast of Nova Scotia that members of the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC), Atlantic region, and marine mammal biologists with Fisheries and Oceans Canada investigated. At the time, this mortality was attributed to severe acute liver damage caused by a protozoan parasite, although the exact identity of this parasite was not determined. Through close collaboration between members of the CWHC, Atlantic region and British Columbia, and Dr. Michael Grigg and his graduate student, Katie Haman, at the National Institutes of Health, this parasite has now been identified as Sarcocystis, possibly a new species designated Sarcocystis pinnipedi. (See: http://news.sciencemag.org/
