Killer whales making meals of seals

Researchers say an increase in killer whales may be the reason seal populations have plummeted in Scottish seas,

Zoologist Andrew Foote of the University of Aberdeen said killer whales, also known as orcas, may be preying on seal pups in Orkney and Shetland, where the harbor seal population has dropped by 40 percent over the past decade, The Scotsman newspaper reported Tuesday.

Foote's research, presented to the European Cetacean Society, suggests there are 100 to 200 orcas in the Northern Isles. He said other factors in the decline of harbor seals could include disease, fishing nets and a decline in sand eels.

Source: United Press International