My last post “How dirty are the mouths of elephant seals?” mentioned the work of animal and human bite wound expert Dr. Ellie Goldstein and how he demystified the Komodo dragon. Since writing the post, I actually met Dr. Goldstein and was able to work with him as a medical student. I even saw him treat a dog bite in the ER. While I picked his brain about elephant seal mouths, he mentioned how one’s environment determines what bacteria are in one’s mouth (also known as oral flora). The bacteria cultured from bite wounds reflect the oral flora of the biting species. Therefore, he has spent his career identifying the oral flora of different animals and their bites. For a detailed summary of the different microbes involved in animal bites check out this article.

It turns out the seals have been associated with a disease called “seal finger” or “speck finger” which has been known to occur in northern sealers and seal trainers. Mycoplasma species have been associated with seal finger in some cases, for example here is a case report from Canada. Perhaps elephant seals could also cause seal finger, but I still haven’t been able to find any reports or identification of their oral flora. Perhaps I will have to work further with Dr. Goldstein to find out.