Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Fish Use Sharp Barbs and Spines to Fight Off Hungry Seals

posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday May 05 2020, @09:35AM   Printer-friendly
from the get-the-point dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

What price are you willing to pay for food? As humans, we face this challenge each time we shop, but for some seals and dolphins this may be a life or death decision.

Modern medical scanning reveals the steep price some marine mammals are willing to pay for food, after a stranded fur seal was discovered with more than a dozen facial wounds inflicted by its seafood prey.

The extreme dangers facing hungry marine mammals are revealed in a new study published in the journal Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, led by marine biologist Dr. David Hocking from the Monash University School of Biological Sciences.

"Marine mammals like whales, seals and dolphins need to eat seafood to survive," Dr. Hocking said. "But, we seldom consider what the fish think of this situation. Obviously, they are less than enthusiastic about being eaten, and some of them have evolved elaborate defence systems to help them fight off would-be predators."

Journal Information: DP Hocking et al, Inferring diet, feeding behaviour and causes of mortality from prey-induced injuries in a New Zealand fur seal, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (2020). DOI: 10.3354/dao03473

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Fish Use Sharp Barbs and Spines to Fight Off Hungry Seals | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 7 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday May 05 2020, @09:33PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday May 05 2020, @09:33PM (#990873) Journal
    Strangely enough, they had this to say in their abstract:

    Nevertheless, the number and severity of the facial stab wounds, some of which led to local necrosis, likely affected the animal’s ability to feed, and may account for its death. Despite their detrimental effects, fish spine-related injuries are difficult to spot, and may be a common, albeit cryptic, type of trauma. We therefore recommend that stranded seals be systematically examined for this potentially life-threatening pathology.

    It's like they might have anticipated such questions and answered them before you even asked. Weird.