CAPE TOWN, Nov 9 (Reuters) - South African officials are investigating an alarming rise in seal deaths along the west coast near Cape Town, with malnutrition one potential cause. A Reuters photographer saw scores of seal carcasses on beaches in Cape Town and along the rugged Atlantic Ocean coastline north of the city last week. James-Brent Styan, spokesman for the Western Cape province's environment department, said seal deaths at this time of year were normal, but not to this extent. 1/6 The carcass of a dead Cape fur seal lies on the rocks as officials investigate an alarming spike in seal deaths along the coast, in Elands Bay, South Africa, November 5, 2021. Experts believe an Avian Influenza epidemic affecting wild seabirds in the Western Cape is probably not behind the latest spate of seal deaths.

Source: The North Africa Journal November 10, 2021 14:45 UTC