Effects of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals on Seals

At the same time harbour porpoises, that had died of a similar virus, appeared stranded on the beaches. Two years later another mass die-off occurred in the Mediterranean striped dolphin populations. The severe and lethal outcomes of the epidemics led many in the scientific community to believe that a contaminantinduced immune deficiency was responsible for the high mortality during the epidemic outbreaks. A p a t t e r n emerged in which seal populations in grossly polluted waters, like the Kattegat, Skagerrak, German Bight and southern parts of the North Sea suffered the worst.