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| Beheaded Seal, Banna Beach, November 2020 |
The Truth.
Below is the reality that media has gone mad! In my local paper they went with the headline "Horror at beheaded seals on beaches". So lets go back to the 7th of November when a follower of my Facebook page contacted me, Mark Kinane sent me a few pictures of seals washed up on Banna Beach and we both went about investigating what happened to these seals! I have found down through the years that when things like this happen usually there is an honest explanation for them. Also from experience with carcasses and the killing of animals of smaller size, personally i know that actually beheading a seal would be both very difficult and quite unlikely. You need to take first into consideration that seals are a protected animal which means you would be breaking the law and also its a wild animal not wanting to die. Although I have absolutely no experience in killing big animals like this, I do know that cutting the head off a seal is not something people would regularly do. If anybody has any knowledge at all then you would know that cutting the head off anything like a cow, a sheep or any animal like a seal would take lots of time and preparation. Another factor is the animal is at sea which would add more problems, I knew fairly quick that actually this happened naturally at sea but also from running a page like the Dingle Peninsula Fishing and Hunting, this was not the first time a marine animal has washed up on shore with a beheaded head. In actual fact this happens all the time, all over the world.
Original Facebook Post on Seals Found on Banna Beach
Why.
OK so when you actually look into the reality of life at sea for seals its quite difficult to describe how difficult it is for them. In Ireland for example on the west coast we have the Atlantic Ocean battering our coastline night and day. If you ever go to the cliffs of moher in the county of Clare, you will see the might of the Atlantic, this for seal pups is a huge problem and usually some do not make it through storms throughout the year. If seals or any marine animal die at sea then unfortunately the first to go is the head and the marine invertebrates gorge the head within a few days. Also with the head the heaviest part of their body that is the part of the body that is going to get damaged first. The reality at sea is not roses and buttercups, its tough and unfortunately animals die all the time due to conditions. If you do some research you will find literally hundreds of reports of beheaded seals from all over the world. I have added some in links down below.
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| Beheaded Seal Pup, Ballybunion, November 2020 |
The Media
So the madness started a few days ago when a local women, a walker from the locality saw the above seal on Banna beach. Although I had posted the picture online of the seal three weeks before we had come to the conclusion ourselves what had happened to the seal, you can see this is in the above Facebook link. The lady rang the local radio and all hell broke lose, every media outlet in the country had reported on beheaded seals, it reached millions of people and the narrative was that local fishermen had beheaded seals. Although we had done our research and spent time pieces to parts together, I couldn't believe when reputable media outlets went with this story. It was in the national press and online news sites published it worldwide. I had enough on Thursday and emailed a young reporter from the examiner knowing that he was my best chance at getting a response. In fact Ciaran Sunderland done an article with Liam Flannery after and I was very happy for once to see that some truth had come to the masses. The whole debacle was an eye opener on the disgrace that is the media. It shows how people can twist things only to get a response and to be honest I personally wont be buying any if them papers again. All these reporters need to do is some research and when driving home from work on Friday evening and over the radio I hear Matt Cooper talking about people beheading seals in Kerry I was gob smacked. So what happens now? Do we get a response from people like Matt Cooper? Do the papers post a headline saying "Maybe Seals were not Beheaded"? This is the world in 2020, they want sound bites! They want reaction! I was listening to a Joe Rogan podcast lately and they were discussing how disgraceful the media has become. Its like the wild west now, no truth, no passion, no nothing. While I spoke to Ciaran on the phone complaining about his article in the examiner of so called beheaded seals I was struck by something, he hadn't a clue, he didn't know anything about fishermen or trawlers, about anglers or nets men, he literally hadn't an iota about anything to do with the sea. He saw an opportunity to write an article purely for sensationalism and he took it. all the luck to him but remember do not believe what you see or hear online or in the media. Do not think because you see fluffy pictures online of baby seals that they cute cuddly toys, they would tear the hand clean off your body! I love nature and the environment I really do but i understand it, its not pretty and sometimes things like this happen...
Links to Newspaper articles claiming foul play with beheaded seals in Kerry
The Journal
Irish Examiner
Irish Independent
Buzz.ie
Irish Post
Links to articles when beheaded seals have washed ashore all over the world
Beheaded Seals Scotland
Beheaded Seals Northern Ireland
