Six dead grey seal pups were found on the shore by Sauðárkrókur in Northwest Iceland yesterday. Þorsteinn Sæmundsson, director of the West Iceland Center of Natural History said the seals were probably killed in the surf caused by the storm last week.
Archive photo by Páll Stefánsson.
“There’s a large grey seal colony by Málmey [Island]. We don’t know whether they came from there but they were at least washed off skerries,” Þorsteinn told ruv.is. “Grey seals give birth in the autumn so the pups weren’t particularly old.”
Þorsteinn said it is hard to estimate when exactly the carcasses drifted ashore as people didn’t take a walk on the beach during the storm. The dead seals were found by a man walking his dog yesterday. It has yet to be determined whether samples will be taken from the carcasses for further examination.
Þorsteinn asked people to notify the West Iceland Center of Natural History or the Icelandic Seal Center in Hvammstangi if they discover other seal carcasses.
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November 02 | Photos: Storm Rages on across Iceland
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