With the aid of a Seattle-based veterinarian well versed in marine mammal research projects, necropsies performed on deceased seal pups around Whidbey Island will help pinpoint the causes of the animals’ deaths.

As of June, the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network has had the go-ahead to collect the carcasses of seal pups and other deceased mammals to be put on ice until Dr. Stephanie Norman can examine the remains.

“It will give us some really great data,” said Sandy Dubpernell of the stranding network. “We should know a lot more by next year, after all of the information is in.”

Seal pup season generally lasts from June through August in this section of Puget Sound. Many of the stranded seal pups in 2005 were reported at Mutiny Bay, the southwest area of Whidbey, while this year the majority of the strandings have been reported on the central and northwest beaches from Fort Casey to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. Reports are down 23 percent this year.

“It changes year to year,” Dubpernell said.

When a seal pup sighting is reported, the caller is told to resist the urge to approach the cuddly marine mammal and instead maintain a generous distance to ascertain if the mother will return for its offspring. If the pup is still on the beach the following day, it is likely that the diminutive creature is on its own.

“With many of the calls, people see the the seal pup and don’t see the mother,” she said. “It looks hungry and lonely and they just want to help. But we tell them to leave it.”

Dubpernell said seal pups experience a 50 percent mortality rate in the first year of life and a 25 percent mortality rate for newborns.

“Sometimes it’s starvation or dehydration, but that’s not always the case,” she said. “As with some land mammals — cats and deer, for example — a mother will abandon her sick or overly weak offspring, because she cannot afford to spend her time and effort on a baby that she knows will not survive.”

The necropsies should provide more answers. If the water conditions are a factor, what’s bad for the seals could eventually prove harmful to humans.

“What’s hurting them could hurt us in the future,” said Dubpernell, who was trained in 2002 by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fisheries.

The stranding network is made up of four principal investigators or letter holders: Dubpernell, an Island County Beach Watcher member; Susan Berta of the Orca Network; Sue Murphy of the Pilchuck Wildlife Center on Camano Island; and wildlife biologist Matt Klope.

“We now have 60 people in our response network,” she said, adding that the volunteers deal primarily with seal pup observation and collection of gross external data.

The majority of pups are born at protected haul-out sites, called rookeries, but a female may give birth anywhere with easy access to the waters’ edge.

Harbor seals rest out of the water — or haul-out — for several hours every day to regulate body temperature, interact with each other, and sleep. The mammals are vulnerable on land and are therefore wary of being approached while out of the water. Some seals, however, may tolerate activity in their vicinity. The most frequently reported encounters with seals out of the water involve pups that are too young to have developed protective wariness, or escape response.

To help determine why the deaths are occurring, Dubpernell said the response network is attempting to involve the local veterinarians and staff in determining if there are diseases or non-evident injuries involved. A training session has already been held at the Oak Harbor home of wildlife biologist Matt Klope.

Ultimately, Dr. Norman’s work with the deceased mammals will yield invaluable information about toxicology and other data. The accomplished specialist has served as a veteriarian with NOAA Fisheries at Sand Point in Seattle.

Dubpernell is ecstatic to have the doctor and the prospect of more help for the seal pups available.

“For us it’s a wonderful experience,” she said. “We have a chance to find out why they are dying and do something positive. It really is a feel-good situation.”

To report a stranded seal pup, contact the stranding network at 1-866-ORCANET or 678-3451, or Dubpernell at 678-3765.