In September, conservationist Naud Dreyer of the charity Ocean Conservation Namibia began noticing
Fur seals usually give birth from mid November to mid December. Gridley calculated that 5,000 to 7,000 female seals have lost their offspring.
The cause of the mass extinction has yet to be established, but scientists suspect anything from pollutants or bacterial infection to malnutrition.
Some of the dead females found were "thin, emaciated, with very little fat," Gridley said. Scientists are already collecting samples for testing.
In 1994, about 10,000 seals died and 15,000fetuses were aborted as a result of a mass extinction associated with starvation, allegedly caused by a shortage of fish, as well as bacterial infection in another breeding colony, at Cape Cross, about 116 kilometers north of the central tourist town of Swakopmund.
Anneli Haifene, executive director of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, said he suspects the seals died from "lack of food" but would wait for the test results.
Read also
The annual mission in the Arctic has ended and the data are disappointing. What awaits humanity?
How a student will pass the exam can be predicted by his posts on VKontakte
On day 3 of illness, most COVID-19 patients lose their sense of smell and often suffer from a runny nose