Seals imperilled by early births off Labrador

CBC News: Seals imperilled by early births off Labrador
An environmental disaster may be developing along the coast of Labrador as unusually warm weather causes some seals to give birth three months before they should, a conservation officer says.

He says seals born that early won't survive.

"If they're going to be keeping on giving birth in December, I think that our seals are going …their numbers are going to get lower and lower," said Simon Kohlmeister, a conservation officer with the Nunatsiavut government in Labrador.

Kohlmeister said he's never heard of seals having pups so early. It usually happens in March, he said.

He's said he's talked to elders in Nain, the administrative capital of Nunatsiavut, and they have never seen births this early either.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is investigating the early births, Kohlmeister said.