No ‘Unusual Mortality Event’ Cases Reported This Year

The Unusal Mortality Event that saw seals and other marine mammals showing up with hair loss over a swath of Alaska’s northern coast may be over. Experts told a science meeting Wednesday that no cases of the hair loss syndrome have been reported so far this year. They continue to be mystified about what caused the mortalities and are revisiting a number of the possible causes they eliminated earlier, such as radiation. They are also looking at whether nutritional changes might have made the animals less resistant to stress, or influenced hormones that control hair loss.