A Cape Breton woman is disturbed and saddened after discovering multiple decapitated seals on the shores of two different beaches in Cape Breton this week.
Kimberly Hayman, who has been a resident of Dominion for three years now, said she and a friend visiting from Truro were talking on Big Glace Bay Beach on Sunday when they encountered a decapitated seal.
She said initially they didn’t think a lot of it, since it’s not unheard of for dead marine animals to wash up on Cape Breton’s shores.
“But as we walked further down the beach, there was more and more of them,” said Hayman. “So we counted seven, but we didn't go to the other end of the beach because we could tell that there was more and it was just disturbing to see.”
Decapitated seals that have washed up on Dominion Beach in Cape Breton. JESSICA SMITH/CAPE BRETON POST
Then, on Wednesday morning, she was walking on Dominion Beach and discovered three more dead seals grouped together, all decapitated in the same way as those as Big Glace Bay Beach.
“And as I kept going there was just more and more and I was taking pictures of them because I thought to myself, ‘This is not normal.’ And I don't really know a lot about the sea life, but to me, … 11 decapitated seals, all with a hole in them, just doesn't seem normal to me, especially when there were 10 a few days ago at a different beach.”
She said she walks the beaches frequently and has never seen anything like this.
“I've only lived here for three years, but I had seen one [seal] carcass washed up last year. This year I had only seen ones that were alive, and there was only one on the Dominion Beach that I saw this year.
A decapitated seal that washed up on Dominion Beach. JESSICA SMITH/CAPE BRETON POST
The Post visited Dominion Beach and confirmed reports of multiple seal carcasses washed up on its shores. Fisheries and Oceans Canada has been made aware of the situation, though said that they have not gotten involved at this point and have passed the reports on to Nova Scotia’s Marine Animal Response Society (MARS) for cleanup.
“We are aware of the situation and, unfortunately, this appears to be a natural occurrence which happens every year (to varying degrees), especially when the sea ice has not been particularly thick or prevalent,” said Tonya Wimmer, executive director of MARS.
“There has been some speculation over the years as to why this may occur, including some hypothesis from DFO suggesting seals heads are getting crushed by the moving ice, however, the cause is not entirely certain. For the majority of animals we've examined during the incidents we've documented, it doesn't appear to be due to human interactions.”
Decapitated seals that have washed up on Dominion Beach. JESSICA SMITH/CAPE BRETON POST
Jim Cloake, a resident of Cape Breton who has lived here his whole life and who also visits the beaches often, said these occurrences are also an anomaly for him.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. … I’ve known some big storms to wash stuff up, whales and such, but nothing like this. This is weird.”
Jessica Smith is a climate change/environmental and natural resources reporter with the Cape Breton Post.
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