sharks are back!

[Clogston29]

didn't we effectively cause the seal's southern migration and over population by overfishing herring, cod and other forage fish to the north.

nature will eventually take care of things, but not necessarily in a way we want. best case scenario is disease, but that would likely only thin them out a bit.

sharks will never make a dent. there is no incentive for them to show up in large enough numbers to wipe out the seals. look at seal island in south africa. lots of sharks, tons of seals.

anyone who thinks that a law will be passed to kill seals, a mammal who the common person thinks is cute and can relate to, and protect a fish is dreaming. the ones i have seen do not look sick or hungry, so its a tough sell that they are even overpopulated at this point.

too bad they don't eat plovers.

[zimmy]

Originally Posted by Clogston29

so its a tough sell that they are even overpopulated at this point.

I don't think they are anywhere near carrying capacity. Right now they are mostly just a nuisance. They were there 300 years ago and they are coming back. I don't think they are anywhere near the population they are going to be in 10 years, unfortunately.

[J_T_R]

Unfortunately, the same laws that protect seals, also protect whales, dolphins and other marine mammals. So, the thought of an open seal season is really a pipe dream. I think that a lot of people consider the seal population a big win in conservation efforts, given the fact that their population was decimated by bounties.