Did algal toxins cause monk seal mortality?

Abstract

The population of Mediterranean monk seals off the coast of the western Sahara has recently suffered a sudden mortality. A morbillivirus was isolated post-mortem from the tissues of three seals1, and it has been proposed that the virus was the agent responsible. This conclusion is called into question by epidemiological, clinical, pathological and toxicological considerations. We suggest here that intoxication by algal toxins is a more likely cause of the deaths.