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Bird Flu Wipes Out Half of Antarctic Seal Breeding Females
13 Nov
Summary
- Bird flu outbreak devastates southern elephant seal population
- 47% drop in breeding females on South Georgia island
- Sick mothers abandoning seal pups, leading to high mortality
In a concerning development, a bird flu outbreak has devastated the population of southern elephant seals, the world's largest seal species, on the remote South Georgia island near Antarctica. According to a study published on 2025-11-13T18:34:29+00:00, the number of breeding female seals on the island has plummeted by 47%, a loss of around 53,000 seals.
The bird flu virus first arrived on South Georgia in 2023, during an outbreak that has spread globally, killing millions of birds and infecting numerous mammals, including several humans. Scientists warn that the impact on the South Georgia seal population will be felt for years to come, as sick mothers have been abandoning their pups, leading to high mortality rates.
Similar trends have been observed on the Valdes Peninsula in Argentina, where 97% of elephant seal pups died either from being abandoned or contracting the virus. Researchers estimate that 67% of breeding females were wiped out in that region.
While the South Georgia population is much larger, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and is expected to be more resilient, the scientists caution that the future remains bleak for these blubbery giants. Regular monitoring of the seal colonies will be crucial in the aftermath of this devastating outbreak.
