As scientists, it's our job to be UNcertain, but many of us forget this when we inject our own emotions into an already controversial issue. For example, there are serious shortcomings (and I mean devastating, peer reviewed and documented flaws) to using fatty acid analysis to evaluate diet, yet time and again I see it is championed for predicting low cod consumption by grey seals. The real truth is that NO ONE can say with any certainty how much biomass grey seals are consuming. Many of these scientists seem to be under the impression that if you entertain the possibility that grey seals may impact the recovery of cod, you automatically support a massive cull of grey seals. That is not science, that's politics. As scientists, let's at least be honest about what we know and what we do not and continue to search for answers instead of pretending we already have them.
Recent Comments