This afternoon, specialists carried out an autopsy on Seppe, the seal that escaped from the SRRC two months ago and which was found dead last Friday in the Sneek Lake. Though the animal was already in a state of decomposition, some facts could be assessed.
Apparently, Seppe had not lost any weight; his stomach was full of fish and he still had a three centimetre thick layer of blubber surrounding his body. That means that he was able to survive quite well in the Frisian waters. He did not have any external wounds, which would have been visible if he had been hit by, for instance, a ships propeller.
It is probable that Seppe was drowned, possibly by getting caught in a hoop net. That used to happen in the Wadden Sea too, before a compulsory secondary net (letting through the fish, but not the seals) made an end to this. But, understandably, those nets are not compulsory on inland water.
However, its lungs were so damaged that drowning could not be immediately established. Tissue from various organs – also the lungs – was collected, and will be further examined in a laboratory. Besides that, the stomach contents will be examined to find out what kind of fish Seppe had been eating.04-19-2009 Source: SRRC Lenie 't Hart
