Seal - Harbor (Phoca vitulina) or Spotted (Phoca largha) with Hair Loss and Skin Infection

Observation: First observation of a seal with hair loss and skin infection on St. Paul Island. The seal was observed by a beach comber on Benson Beach.

Update: On January 12th Pamela wrote: “A local beachcomber (Shaun Lekanof) observed this seal. I contacted him yesterday with Kathy’s questions and he thought it was a harbor seal and last spring’s pup. We are not familiar with spotted seal in this area. He didn’t notice any abnormal behavior. The seal was gone by the time I rode down the beach the next day in the evening – so no carcass.“

LEO says: This looks like a wayward seal and perhaps a survivor from the illness that caused hair loss in many ice seals around Alaska and into Canada and other parts of the Arctic. Without careful inspection, it is impossible to confirm the species, but it could be either a harbor or spotted seal. Please see the unusual mortality event (UME) website at the North Slope Borough Wildlife Department. LEO will share this observation with UME coordinators for their identification and consult.

Alaska Veterinary Pathology Services (AVPS) Consult: (2017-01-10) Kathy Burek Huntington, DVM, writes, "this case definitely qualifies as a "UME" type of seal. Any time there is a dead stranded seal like this, I would be very interested in having it shipped to me for a diagnostic work up. The fresher the better and not frozen if at all possible (I know this is difficult)." AVPS Marine Mammal Necropsy Documents.

Marine Advisory Program Consult: (2017-01-11) Gay Sheffield, MAP Agent writes, "Yes, this is what I'd now say (sadly) is a "classic" UME seal. It looks to be a spotted seal subadult with hair loss resulting from a delay in the molt cycle - as well as skin lesion. Will try and find you tomorrow but it would be good to get this seal to Raphaela Stimmelymayr if/when this animal dies (unlikely) or is killed for subsistence purposes. We are still seeing these in the Bering Strait region - just not as often as when it all began in 2011 - and not typically with such active skin lesions. Please keep us in the loop on this one (have cced Raphaela here too). Thank you so much for the heads up!!"

Gay added on January 12th, "Harbor and spotted seals use the central Bering in the winter and are very close cousins. The physical features that distinguish the two are very subtle. The only way to tell will be if the carcass is in hand. Of note, we have only 1-2 accounts of reported UME harbor seals but no carcasses on hand - compared with dozens of UME spotted seal reports and many carcasses necropsied." Source: University of Alaska Fairbanks

North Slope Borough Wildlife Department Consult: (2017-01-11) Raphaela Stimmelmayer, DVM, writes, "I concur with Gay on species and age assesment (Gay just forwarded photos)- we had cases like this in 2015 - hairloss with fungal dermatitis most likely."

Resource:

Alaska Region Marine Mammal Stranding Network – Report a Stranded/Beached Marine Animal - To respond to stranded (sometimes called "beached") marine mammals (whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and sea lions), we work with volunteer stranding networks in all coastal states, coordinated by regional marine mammal stranding coordinators. For the Pribilof region, contact, The Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal Government, St. Paul, Island, AK (907) 546-3200 or Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline at 877-9-AKR-PRD (877-925-7773).

Alaska SeaLife Center – The Alaska Stranding Network works with the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP) of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).