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First reports on cases of grey seal predation on other marine mammals from different parts of Europe have been published in recent years, but few cases provide sufficient detail. Here we report a case of active cannibalism by a grey seal, which has been witnessed and recorded in detail on the German island of Helgoland, describing particular behavioural aspects and lesions. In March 2018, a subadult male grey seal was observed catching, killing and feeding extensively from a juvenile grey seal. The carcass showed severe cutaneous lacerations, starting in the head region and following around the trunk in a circular pattern. These results are discussed with regard to the previously reported cases to form a solid knowledge base for retrospective and future assessments of carcasses potentially subjected to grey seal predation. The correct assignment of predated seals is important to determine the potential influence this behaviour may have on seal populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of anthropogenic noise on marine fauna is of increasing conservation concern with vessel noise being one of the major contributors. Animals that rely on shallow coastal habitats may be especially vulnerable to this form of pollution.Very limited information is available on how much noise from ship traffic individual animals experience, and how they may react to it due to a lack of suitable methods. To address this, we developed long‐duration audio and 3D‐movement tags (DTAGs) and deployed them on three harbor seals and two gray seals in the North Sea during 2015–2016.These tags recorded sound, accelerometry, magnetometry, and pressure continuously for up to 21 days. GPS positions were also sampled for one seal continuously throughout the recording period. A separate tag, combining a camera and an accelerometer logger, was deployed on two harbor seals to visualize specific behaviors that helped interpret accelerometer signals in the DTAG data.Combining data from depth, accelerometer, and audio sensors, we found that animals spent 6.6%–42.3% of the time hauled out (either on land or partly submerged), and 5.3%–12.4% of their at‐sea time resting at the sea bottom, while the remaining time was used for traveling, resting at surface, and foraging. Animals were exposed to audible vessel noise 2.2%–20.5% of their time when in water, and we demonstrate that interruption of functional behaviors (e.g., resting) in some cases coincides with high‐level vessel noise. Two‐thirds of the ship noise events were traceable by the AIS vessel tracking system, while one‐third comprised vessels without AIS.This preliminary study demonstrates how concomitant long‐term continuous broadband on‐animal sound and movement recordings may be an important tool in future quantification of disturbance effects of anthropogenic activities at sea and assessment of long‐term population impacts on pinnipeds. Novel long‐duration audio and 3D‐movement tags were deployed to address how seals react to ship noise. We deployed the tag on three harbor seals and two gray seals with continuous recordings for up to 21 days. Animals were exposed to vessel noise 2%–21% of their time when in water, and we demonstrate for the first time that alterations in behavior coincide with high‐level vessel noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between the 8th January and the 25th February 2016, the largest sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus mortality event ever recorded in the North Sea occurred with 30 sperm whales stranding in five countries within six weeks. All sperm whales were immature males. Groups were stratified by size, with the smaller animals stranding in the Netherlands, and the largest in England. The majority (n = 27) of the stranded animals were necropsied and/or sampled, allowing for an international and comprehensive investigation into this mortality event. The animals were in fair to good nutritional condition and, aside from the pathologies caused by stranding, did not exhibit significant evidence of disease or trauma. Infectious agents were found, including various parasite species, several bacterial and fungal pathogens and a novel alphaherpesvirus. In nine of the sperm whales a variety of marine litter was found. However, none of these findings were considered to have been the primary cause of the stranding event. Potential anthropogenic and environmental factors that may have caused the sperm whales to enter the North Sea were assessed. Once sperm whales enter the North Sea and head south, the water becomes progressively shallower (<40 m), making this region a global hotspot for sperm whale strandings. We conclude that the reasons for sperm whales to enter the southern North Sea are the result of complex interactions of extrinsic environmental factors. As such, these large mortality events seldom have a single ultimate cause and it is only through multidisciplinary, collaborative approaches that potentially multifactorial large-scale stranding events can be effectively investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carcasses of wild animals are often visited by different scavengers. However, determining which scavenger caused certain types of bite marks is particularly difficult and knowledge thereof is lacking. Therefore, a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay (target sequence cytochrome b) was developed to detect red fox DNA in carcasses of harbour porpoises. The MSwab™ method for direct testing without prior DNA isolation was validated. As a detection device, the portable real-time fluorometer Genie® II was used, which yields rapid results and can be used in field studies without huge laboratory equipment. In addition to in vitro evaluation and validation, a stranded and scavenged harbour porpoise carcass was successfully examined for red fox DNA residues. The developed LAMP method is a valuable diagnostic tool for confirming presumable red fox bite wounds in harbour porpoises without further DNA isolation steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic landscape changes contributed to the reduction of availability of habitats to wild animals. Hence, the presence of wild terrestrial carnivores in urban and peri-urban sites has increased considerably over the years implying an increased risk of interspecies spillover of infectious diseases and the transmission of zoonoses. The present study provides a detailed characterisation of the health status of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), stone marten (Martes foina) and raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in their natural rural and peri-urban habitats in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany between November 2013 and January 2016 with focus on zoonoses and infectious diseases that are potentially threatening to other wildlife or domestic animal species. 79 red foxes, 17 stone martens and 10 raccoon dogs were collected from traps or hunts. In order to detect morphological changes and potential infectious diseases, necropsy and pathohistological work-up was performed. Additionally, in selected animals immunohistochemistry (influenza A virus, parvovirus, feline leukemia virus, Borna disease virus, tick-borne encephalitis, canine adenovirus, Neospora caninum, Toxoplasma gondii and Listeria monocytogenes), next-generation sequencing, polymerase chain reaction (fox circovirus) and serum-neutralisation analysis (canine distemper virus) were performed. Furthermore, all animals were screened for fox rabies virus (immunofluorescence), canine distemper virus (immunohistochemistry) and Aujeszky’s disease (virus cultivation). The most important findings included encephalitis (n = 16) and pneumonia (n = 20). None of the investigations revealed a specific cause for the observed morphological alterations except for one animal with an elevated serum titer of 1:160 for canine distemper. Animals displayed macroscopically and/or histopathologically detectable infections with parasites, including Taenia sp., Toxocara sp. and Alaria alata. In summary, wildlife predators carry zoonotic parasitic disease and suffer from inflammatory diseases of yet unknown etiology, possibly bearing infectious potential for other animal species and humans. This study highlights the value of monitoring terrestrial wildlife following the “One Health” notion, to estimate the incidence and the possible spread of zoonotic pathogens and to avoid animal to animal spillover as well as transmission to humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Testing the hearing abilities of marine mammals under water is a challenging task. Sample sizes are usually low, thus limiting the ability to generalize findings of susceptibility towards noise influences. A method to measure harbor porpoise hearing thresholds in situ in outdoor conditions using auditory steady state responses of the brainstem was developed and tested. The method was used on 15 live-stranded animals from the North Sea during rehabilitation, shortly before release into the wild, and on 12 wild animals incidentally caught in pound nets in Denmark (inner Danish waters). Results indicated that although the variability between individuals is wide, the shape of the hearing curve is generally similar to previously published results from behavioral trials. Using 10-kHz frequency intervals between 10 and 160 kHz, best hearing was found between 120 and 130 kHz. Additional testing using one-third octave frequency intervals (from 16 to 160 kHz) allowed for a much faster hearing assessment, but eliminated the fine scale threshold characteristics. For further investigations, the method will be used to better understand the factors influencing sensitivity differences across individuals and to establish population-level parameters describing hearing abilities of harbor porpoises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prey spectrum of grey seals has to date been described as largely consisting of different fish, cephalopod and shrimp species. On the German island of Helgoland Düne, where harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina ) and grey seals ( Halichoerus grypus ) co-occur, a young male grey seal was observed in 2013 and again in 2014 preying upon young harbour seals. A harbour seal carcass with severe traumatic lesions was retrieved and post-mortem examinations were performed. In the following weeks several carcasses showing similar lesions were found. Sightings of grey seals assumed to be preying on harbour porpoises have increased around the North Sea. Increased competition as well as individualised behaviour could explain the increased number of observations, but former cases of abnormal lesions of marine mammals attributed to for example predation by sharks or mechanical processes should be revisited with regard to the emerging knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To uncover the termite species diversity of a natural African savanna ecosystem, we combined morphological analyses and sequencing of three gene fragments (cytochrome oxidase I, cytochrome oxidase II and 28SrDNA, total length about 2450bp) to infer putative species from phylogenetic trees. We identified 18 putative species clusters with high support values and which we retrieved consistently. Samples from two genera (Ancistrotermes and Microcerotermes) were excluded from the mitochondrial phylogenetic analyses as they might represent nuclear mitochondrial sequences (NUMTs). In total, our data suggest a species richness of at least 20 species, all but one belonging to the Termitidae (higher termites), and among them the fungus-growing Macrotermitinae were most prevalent with at least nine putative species. Within the fungus-growers the most species-rich genus was Microtermes and its four putative species were all cryptic species. Their abundance in the samples suggests that they play an important ecological role which is completely unstudied also due to the lack of reliable identification means. Our study shows that morphological traits are unreliable means of species identification for several termite taxa. Yet reliable and consistent identification is necessary for studying the functional role of termites in ecosystem and global processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Grey seal predation on marine mammals has been reported throughout the northern hemisphere except for the Baltic Sea. After the Baltic subspecies (Halichoerus grypus grypus) was on the brink of extinction in the early 1990s, numbers increased steadily during the past three decades from a few thousands to >40,000 in 2020. In recent years, grey seals were observed more frequently in the southern and western Baltic Sea, areas where the subspecies was a rare guest for many decades. Nevertheless, <10% of the Baltic grey seals are counted in the southern Baltic Sea. A standing stranding monitoring programme investigates carcasses of marine mammals washed up in Mecklenburg- Western Pomerania, Germany. In August 2021 a harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) carcass was found with lesions typical for grey seal predation: amongst others the typical "cork-screw", helical and cut-like lesions with smooth wound margins. The juvenile harbour seal showed 9 of 10 parameters indicating grey seal predation according to van Neer et al., 2021. Earlier suspicious cases in harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) suggest that the presented case may not be an isolated one. Rather, it is a so far rare observation of a behaviour that may become more common with the ongoing recovery of grey seals in the southern Baltic Sea in an area of overlapping habitats with harbour porpoise and harbour seals. In this region harbour seals and harbour porpoise are more abundant than in the Northern Baltic Sea where, as of yet, grey seals are more numerous. • First clear evidence that harbour seals are predated by the Baltic grey seal subspecies. • Further cases highlight that harbour porpoises are also subject to grey seal predation in the Baltic Sea. • This is especially concerning since harbour porpoises of the Baltic Sea are critically endangered. • Chances to observe this behaviour are growing together with the increasing grey seal population after near extinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]