An Injured Female Hooded Seal

Fatal Mass Ingestion of Gastric Foreign Bodies in Juvenile Hooded Seals (Cystophora Cristata) Stranded in North-Western Iberian Peninsula

“…Consequences of starvation, dehydration, weakness, external traumas, and overall the quick establishment of heat stroke, are the most important clinical challenges when dealing with individual Hooded seals much further south of their normal distribution area. The presence of gastroliths and other foreign bodies in the stomach of this arctic seal species has also been described as a frequent necropsy finding [8,9], even producing complete impactation and has been considered as the primary cause of death in some specimens [10].…”

“…Although some references about the presence of gastric foreign bodies (stones/ gastroliths, gravel or sand) in this arctic seal species can be found in the scientific literature [8][9][10], the primary cause of the mass ingestion of the foreign bodies remains unclear. The presence of gastroliths in other pinniped species has been frequently reported, i.e.…”