The Bite Comes Back
Bite Size Edition of How Chemicals, Stress, and Human Neglect Drive Neurological Collapse and Why “Rabies” Is Just a Label for Cape Fur Seal Behavioural Breakdown Along South African Coastlines
A Disease With a Convenient Story
When rabies is mentioned, it’s often viewed simply as a singular villain. A virus that transforms animals into aggressive threats. This neat narrative allows us to avoid deeper self-reflection and environmental scrutiny. On the South African coast, Cape fur seals, not historically associated with rabies, are exhibiting severe neurological distress, such as confusion and aggression, primarily near human-dominated areas. The official narrative hastily attributes these behaviours to rabies, and this has, as expected, led to knee-jerk vaccine recommendations.
However, a closer look reveals that these symptoms may stem from toxic overload and chronic stress rather than a viral invader. The seals inhabit chemically contaminated waters filled with agricultural runoff, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, and noise pollution. This has predictably resulted in significant biological and behavioural responses. The label “rabies” provides a convenient scapegoat and diverts attention away from the real environmental issues at play. It gives us a “hobgoblin,” in the words of H.L. Mencken.
This article, divided into nine parts, explores the narratives surrounding rabies, the terrain perspective, and the environmental factors contributing to these distress signals. It covers the debate between germ theory and terrain theory, the impact of human activity on ecosystems, and the Charge-Discharge Cycle that explains biological responses to stress. Ultimately, the piece emphasizes the need for awareness of the broader context affecting both wildlife and human health, and it advocates for informed choices that could lead to better outcomes for all.
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.” - H.L. Mencken, In Defense of Women
Part One: The Virus
Rabies Reconsidered
Disease or Nervous System Breakdown?
Rabies is conventionally viewed as a viral disease transmitted through bites, leading to aggression and confusion. This narrative has persisted for over a century, largely unchallenged, and is echoed from the very top by the likes of the WHO.
Rather than seeing rabies as an invading germ, we might view it as a pattern of nervous system failure. Symptoms such as aggression, disorientation, and seizures can arise from various factors, such as toxins or stress. No virus is needed. Historically, rabies has often been the default explanation for sudden neurological symptoms, offering closure without exploring deeper causes.
The nervous system serves as an indicator of both health and environmental conditions. Pollution and stress can lead to erratic behaviour, and this should shift focus away from the virus to broader environmental issues. Yet it hasn’t.
When we take a step back, we can better understand rabies as a syndrome comprising various symptoms rather than as proof of an invading agent. Similar behaviours occur due to neurotoxins, heavy metals, and environmental stressors. Recognizing this pattern encourages exploration of the conditions that cause breakdowns rather than seeking a single agent. We are doing that exploration in this article.
“Rabid” behaviour typically includes sudden aggression and disorientation, and it is very often misinterpreted as some sort of induced madness. Excessive salivation and compulsive actions reveal neurological dysfunction rather than infection. As symptoms progress, paralysis and loss of control reflect widespread system failure.
The brain maintains balance through neurotransmitters, and this regulates behaviour. Disruption from toxins or chronic stress can lead to impulsivity and aggression, with environmental factors compounding the risk of neurological breakdown.
Modern virology’s promise of isolating pathogens hasn’t been fully realized either. Criteria established in the late 1800s have shifted, and as a result, testing often relies on indirect evidence rather than direct isolation of viruses. This has led to circular reasoning, where assumptions about viruses reinforce themselves without addressing systemic failures.
Germ theory suggests that specific microbes cause diseases. But this relationship is complex. Additionally, viruses are classified based on abstract concepts rather than direct observations, which complicates the understanding of infection.
Critics argue that virology often starts with the assumption of a virus and interprets results accordingly. This logic can be fallacious if effects can arise from other mechanisms. The resort to logical fallacies underscores the need for direct evidence rather than assuming causation.
What many aren’t aware of is that our scientific frameworks, especially in virology, are shaped by philosophical and epistemological choices. This then reveals that our understanding of viruses and infections is often more complex than it appears. As a result, the general public appears to have been excluded from understanding what viruses allegedly are. As well as the nature and importance of the human terrain. Essentially, we’re all required to blindly and unquestioningly trust the proverbial priests of medicine. But are we, individually and collectively, prepared to accept that modern healthcare may be mostly faith-based?
Part Two: The Terrain
The Terrain Theory
Terrain theory emphasizes that the internal environment of the body largely determines health outcomes. This includes the terrain’s chemistry, balance, and resilience. Instead of viewing disease as an external invader, it considers the body as a dynamic ecosystem where internal imbalances influence illness. As proponents summarize, “the microbe is nothing; the terrain is everything.”
Dr. Sam and Mark Bailey argue that mainstream medicine often prioritizes germ theory over terrain considerations and overlooks how internal factors, such as nutrition and toxins, affect health. Historical figures like physiologist Claude Bernard and scientist Antoine Béchamp laid the groundwork for terrain theory by suggesting that disease arises from unfavourable internal conditions rather than from germs.
Terrain theory has persisted into modern holistic medicine and has gained traction since the COVID-19 pandemic. Anecdotes from over a century ago, like Dr. Matthew Joseph Rodermund’s smallpox exposure without illness, illustrate that resilience matters more than exposure. Critics of conventional medicine, such as Dr. Vernon Coleman and Robert Mendelsohn, emphasize supporting the body’s healing capacity over merely suppressing symptoms.
Terrain thinkers almost instinctively view symptoms like fever and inflammation as intelligent responses to imbalance and not as malfunctions. This perspective aligns with microbiologist Dr. Marizelle Arce’s assertion that symptoms are adaptive signals rather than causes of disease.
Ultimately, living organisms are fundamentally electrical systems, with health closely tied to bioelectric dynamics. The Electric Universe framework posits that electricity and plasma are primary organizing forces in nature. Modern research shows that healthy tissues maintain specific electrical potentials, and when voltage drops, cellular repair slows, and degeneration follows.
Research by Professor Emeritus of Bioengineering, Gerald Pollack, suggests that structured water, known as exclusion-zone (EZ) water, is vital for cellular function. Forming along hydrophilic surfaces such as proteins and membranes, this phase of water organizes into a hexagonal structure that excludes dissolved particles and carries a negative charge.
When exposed to radiant energy like sunlight or infrared, it stores energy and creates a charge separation that acts like a tiny battery. This electrical potential helps power cellular processes such as protein folding. When toxins or stress disrupt this structured water, the cell’s ability to maintain charge can collapse, and this can lead to symptoms commonly associated with disease.
In June 2024, rabies was detected in Cape fur seals, a species not previously associated with the virus. Cases tend to cluster in human-affected coastal areas, which suggests environmental changes, rather than a hidden infection. The seals’ behaviours, from aggression to disorientation, reflect neurological collapse increasingly likely due to chemical exposure and stressors rather than a contagious virus.
Seals, as top predators, accumulate toxins from their environments, making them early indicators of ecological distress. Their health reflects the cumulative impact of pollution and other stressors, and this should raise concerns about similar risks to human health. Yet, it doesn’t appear to concern governments and institutions.
The Predictive Evolution Theory model that I use suggests organisms anticipate environmental changes, using bioelectromagnetic cues to adapt. When environmental signals shift too rapidly or become toxic, the organism’s ability to adapt collapses, and this becomes visible through behavioural changes.
Many aren’t aware that the “glympathic system” cleanses the brain using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to remove waste, let alone that it exists at all. I know this because until recently, I had never heard of it either. Until I came across David Traster’s work.
According to Dr. Traster, the glymphatic system describes a body-wide fluid and energy clearance network that expands on the brain’s waste-removal process known as the Glymphatic System. In this model, the brain, lymphatics, fascia, cerebrospinal fluid, and interstitial fluids work together to move metabolic waste, inflammatory byproducts, and excess charge out of tissues.
Breathing. Spinal motion. Sleep. Hydration. Tissue electrical state. They influence this circulation. When flow is restricted by stress, injury, toxins, dehydration, or reduced movement, waste and fluids stagnate. This then contributes to inflammation, neurological symptoms, and systemic dysfunction. The system works most effectively during sleep, so disruption can impair cognitive function. From a Terrain Theory perspective, many symptoms labeled as disease arise from failures in these internal maintenance processes rather than solely from external pathogens.
The terrain theory and bioelectric perspectives emphasize that health stems from internal environments and electrical dynamics. Disease may not be a direct result of pathogens. Instead, it may be a breakdown of the body’s internal systems due to environmental pressures. Understanding this interconnectedness offers a more comprehensive view of health and disease.
Part Three: The Upstream
Agricultural Chemicals Enter the Sea
Modern agriculture relies on pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, which often escape their intended locations. These chemicals enter waterways and contribute to coastal pollution. On top of this, livestock farming compounds the issue, as medications in manure also wash into rivers.
Rainfall and irrigation transport these chemicals into streams and rivers, while soil erosion helps carry bound pollutants downstream. Wind can disperse chemicals over distances, and this contributes to a continuous low-level input of pollutants into marine environments.
Once in the sea, these substances are absorbed by algae and accumulate in the food web, where they become more concentrated as they move up the chain to seals. Estuaries serve as critical mixing zones where pollutants settle. These are on eof the prime feeding areas for seals, and so this makes them key exposure zones.
As human activity increases along coastlines, the separation between land and sea diminishes. What happens inland now directly impacts marine life. Studies by environmental engineer Ilaria Micella have confirmed that nearly 45% of the world’s sub-basins are multi-pollutant hotspots. Additionally, and more crucially, they are home to about 89% of the global population.
In many of these areas, intensive agriculture and dense human settlements release a mix of pollutants into rivers. Those rivers then carry the contamination downstream to coastal waters, where it further reduces water quality. Dr. Reynold Chow from the Department of Earth Sciences at Stellenbosch University has revealed that South Africa is the largest user of pesticides in Sub-Saharan Africa.
However, monitoring pesticide pollution is expensive and requires specialized expertise, so data from many developing countries remains limited.
Organophosphate Pesticides & the Nervous System
Organophosphate pesticides (OPs) disrupt the nervous systems of insects and humans by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase, which leads to symptoms like tremors, seizures, and paralysis. This mirrors the behavioural signs often labeled as “rabies” in animals, such as aggression and disorientation.
Scientist Yixin Chen and his colleagues have found that exposure to OPs, whether highly or mildly toxic, can harm the nervous system. They discovered that exposure to OPs can cause symptoms like nausea, vomiting, muscle tremors, and convulsions. In severe cases, it can trigger respiratory failure or even death.
Chronic low-level exposure gradually erodes neurological stability, while acute exposure can lead to rapid collapse. Stressors like food scarcity and environmental disruption amplify toxicity, particularly in seals, where stored chemicals can be released during periods of stress.
River Catchments as Chemical Conveyors
Rivers act as conduits for chemicals from agricultural, urban, and industrial sites. They transport pesticides, fertilizers, and heavy metals downstream and funnel pollutants toward the coast. Estuaries and river mouths, supporting dense marine life, collect these contaminants and create exposure zones for seals.
Heavy rainfall can exacerbate chemical transport into coastal areas and create a pipeline from land to sea. Once in estuaries, contaminants accumulate in marine life, and this ultimately leads to bioaccumulation.
Chemical Runoff in Western Cape Rivers
In the Western Cape, agriculture drives extensive pesticide use, with rivers often exceeding environmental standards. Organophosphates and other agrochemicals remain long after application. They all contribute to chronic exposure experienced in aquatic ecosystems.
Environmental commentator Steve Kretzmann notes that studies link pesticide exposure to reduced brain function in children living in the Piketberg, Grabouw, and Hex River Valley catchments. Research from Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town School of Public Health detected multiple pesticides in rivers, including:
18 in the Berg
13 in the Krom
8 in the Hex
Ecotoxicologists S. A. Reinecke and A. J. Reinecke observed that chlorpyrifos levels in soil were initially low (0.2–2.7 µg/kg). But they persisted for up to six months after spraying, and spread to non-target areas via rainfall runoff.
Analytical chemist and postdoctoral researcher Chijioke Olisah studied 13 organophosphate pesticides in the Sundays and Swartkops estuaries, finding ten in surface water and all in sediments. The studies highlight seasonal and spatial variations as well as ecological risks. Meanwhile, environmental monitoring scientist Lou Curchod expanded pesticide monitoring across Sub-Saharan Africa, detecting 53 compounds, including some at high concentrations, using passive sampling. This naturally points to potential harm to aquatic life and ecosystems.
On top of all that, the postdoctoral research fellow and PhD student, Cecilia Y. Ojemaye, also emphasizes that marine organisms show persistent contamination from pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Ojemaye warns that concentrations are increasing over time due to rising usage. Keep in mind that this is cumulative, too.
Monitoring in South Africa has historically focused on a limited range of pollutants, leaving significant gaps. Once chemicals enter river systems, they concentrate in estuaries, which act as natural sinks for pollutants. These zones affect local ecosystems and serve as entry points for coastal food webs, where chemicals bioaccumulate in marine life, and then impact apex predators like seals.
Understanding these pathways is crucial for addressing the upstream impacts of agricultural practices on marine ecosystems.
Part Four: The Downstream
Heavy Metals in the Food Chain
Heavy metals (HMs) are persistent pollutants in marine ecosystems, with sources including industrial activities, mining, and agriculture. Fish accumulate HMs through bioaccumulation and this leads to concentrated levels in larger predatory fish and ultimately in humans. Mercury is particularly concerning as it converts to methylmercury and easily enters living tissue. Other metals like lead, cadmium, and arsenic persist in sediments and leak back into the environment even after source activity ceases.
Researcher Dhary Alewy Almashhadany warns that heavy metal(loid) pollution in water is a serious concern because these toxins persist, bioaccumulate, and magnify through food chains. Major sources include industry, mining, agriculture, and fossil fuel combustion. Fish absorb heavy metals through bioaccumulation, and as larger predators eat smaller fish, these metals then concentrate in tissues. In some cases, they eventually reach humans.
These metals disrupt the nervous system by impairing neurotransmitter release and electrical signaling. Once again, this results in symptoms such as aggression, confusion, and coordination loss. Chronic exposure can lead to gradual behavioural changes until a tipping point is reached, while acute exposure causes rapid toxicity.
Marine sediments act as long-term storage for these metals and ensure continuous exposure. When combined with other pollutants, the neurological impact intensifies. This then strains detoxification systems and exacerbates damage to the nervous system. Coastal areas near human activity show higher metal loads, with dramatic behavioural collapse observed in seals before similar effects may be recognized in us.
Harmful Algal Blooms & Natural Neurotoxins
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are fueled by excess nutrients. These are primarily nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural runoff and sewage. Some algae produce neurotoxins like domoic acid and saxitoxins, which then enter the marine food web. They are then accumulated in shellfish as well as fish consumed by seals. The neurological effects of these toxins also resemble those of rabies, coincidentally causing seizures, confusion, and aggression.
The Centre for Disease Control in the United States notes that algae are vital to freshwater, saltwater, and brackish ecosystems. However, the CDC also warns that some algae can become harmful when they grow excessively or produce toxins.
Microbiologist Dr. Marizelle Arce emphasizes that Vibrio species, including V. vulnificus, are native marine microbes that help maintain ecosystem balance. When waters become toxic, oxygen-depleted, or chemically altered, these microbes transform into more efficient decomposers. This change reflects the environment’s condition, and it shows ecological housekeeping rather than pathogenic attack.
Meanwhile, researchers Kuan-Kuan Yuan, Hong-Ye Li, and Wei-Dong Yang explain that humans are mainly exposed to these toxins through fish and shellfish, which act as biological vectors. The risk of disease from HABs is rising, and this reflects a global increase in their occurrence, frequency, and intensity along coastal regions.
Marine scientists Grant C. Pitcher and Deon C. Louw highlight that Paralytic and Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP and DSP) are the most serious HAB-related syndromes. Blooms of Alexandrium catenella have caused PSP since 1948 and have led to large shellfish and bird deaths. Alexandrium minutum, first detected in Cape Town harbour in 2003, adds further PSP risk. DSP was first reported on South Africa’s coast in 1991.
Sublethal doses can destabilize the nervous system over time, impairing memory and impulse control. Unfortunately, increased human nutrient input has led to more frequent and intense HABs, especially near populated coastlines. Environmental conditions such as warmth and stagnation amplify bloom formation and persist post-bloom, and this naturally further complicates recovery.
Pharmaceutical Residues in Coastal Waters
Pharmaceuticals enter aquatic environments through wastewater and are not fully removed during treatment. Even low concentrations can affect animal brain chemistry and cause altered fear responses, confusion, and impulsivity. Chronic exposure creates persistent pressure on neurological regulation and weakens the brain’s self-correcting abilities.
Academic researcher Charles Obinwanne Okoye warns that emerging contaminants (ECs), including pharmaceuticals, personal care products (PPCPs), and pesticides, pose serious risks to aquatic species and humans. Meanwhile, researchers Olivia Murgatroyd, Leslie Petrik, Cecilia Y. Ojemaye, and Deena Pillay have all noted that pharmaceuticals are increasingly detected in coastal ecosystems worldwide. They have also revealed that contamination and bioaccumulation in temporarily closed estuaries remain poorly studied.
Pharmaceuticals invariably accumulate in the food web, and this impacts seals that consume contaminated prey. Combined exposure to other pollutants can amplify behavioural effects and make observed behaviours in seals appear less mysterious and more indicative of unintentional medication.
Endocrine Disruptors, PFAS, & the Hormonal Stress Spiral
Endocrine disruptors, including PFAS, interfere with hormonal systems, and this leads to metabolic and neurological issues. These compounds enter coastal waters through wastewater and runoff and can mimic or block natural hormones. Chronic exposure exacerbates susceptibility to other stressors and inevitably pushes animals toward behavioural collapse.
According to scientist Thaddeus T. Schug, environmental chemicals can profoundly affect biological systems. Especially when exposure occurs during early development, it inevitably increases disease susceptibility later in life.
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) interfere with the body’s hormone system, causing developmental, reproductive, neurological, cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune effects. Both natural and synthetic substances, including pharmaceuticals, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, DDT, other pesticides, and plastics components like bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates, can act as EDCs.
These chemicals are present in everyday products such as plastic bottles, metal food cans, detergents, flame retardants, food additives, toys, cosmetics, and pesticides. EDCs disrupt hormone synthesis, secretion, transport, activity, or elimination. They either block or mimic natural hormones and produce a wide range of adverse effects.
Microplastics as Toxic Delivery Systems
Microplastics attract and bind chemical pollutants and thereby become mobile carriers of toxins. Marine life consumes these particles, and this naturally leads to slow-release toxicity that destabilizes the nervous system. Microplastics also irritate the gut, and this amplifies stress signals, further compromising neurological stability.
Physician Dr. Joseph Mercola warns that microscopic particles, or micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs), can accumulate in the brain over time. This is the process known as bioaccumulation. While the health impacts are not yet fully confirmed, researchers nevertheless suggest these particles may very well trigger the so-called immune system, leading to inflammation. Chronic brain inflammation has been linked to various neurological disorders.
Meanwhile, environmental science researcher Tan Suet May Amelia and colleagues have noted that microplastics are widespread in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments. Major sources include wastewater treatment plants, landfills, irrigation systems, agricultural fields, industrial effluent, and domestic runoff.
Add to that, researcher Bishwatma Biswas has explained that polymer properties, such as surface area and aging, influence the transport and fate of microplastics and emerging contaminants. These interactions occur through van der Waals forces, electrostatic interactions, hydrophobic partitioning, and pore-filling mechanisms.
The Chemical Tide
Heavy metals. Pharmaceuticals. A range of other contaminants. They all undeniably persist in coastal ecosystems, and they regretfully accumulate in marine species. Mussels and other organisms act as indicators of ecosystem health, with detected pollutants increasingly posing risks to human health.
Algal blooms fueled by nutrient runoff create toxic conditions that disrupt ecosystems. Pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors compound these issues, while microplastics exacerbate exposure to harmful chemicals.
Steve Kretzmann notes that South Africa is the largest pesticide user in sub-Saharan Africa, with over 3,000 registered chemicals. These include neurotoxic and endocrine-disrupting compounds. Many of which are banned elsewhere.
Researcher Olivia Murgatroyd measured pharmaceutical levels in the Zandvlei Estuary, a heavily modified urban estuary in Cape Town. She found concentrations nearly 100 times higher than in False Bay. Acetaminophen (max 2.531 µg/L) and sulfamethoxazole (max 0.138 µg/L) were the main pollutants.
Professor and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science at Tshwane University of Technology, Ntebogeng Sharon Mokgalaka-Fleischmann, et al report microplastic levels in marine sediments along the southeast coast reached 45,867 particles/kg, while airborne levels were 1–5 particles/m³, consistent with global averages of 0.1–10 particles/L in water and 0.3–10 particles/m³ in air.
Analytical chemist and postdoctoral researcher Chijioke Olisah adds that of South Africa’s 290 estuaries, 65 were prioritized for POP evaluation, with sampling strategies defined to guide monitoring. Effective enforcement of pollution policies is desperately needed to prevent chronic contamination and ecosystem degradation.
Together, these pollutants create a layered and persistent chemical burden in coastal ecosystems, which leads to complex stressors for wildlife, including Cape fur seals. Understanding these dynamics is therefore essential for addressing the health of marine environments.
Part Five: The Stressor
The Charge-Discharge Cycle Model
The Charge-Discharge Cycle model explains how seals and other organisms function as charge-regulated systems, and it explains how they balance energy, signals, and stress. Stability relies on maintaining this rhythm of energy input and output.
First Charge: Low-level exposure to toxins and stress builds gradually, causing little noticeable change as the body compensates.
Second Charge: Additional stressors stack on top, elevating cortisol levels and pushing the system toward saturation until it ultimately crosses a threshold.
Discharge: When the system can’t hold accumulated charge, it releases stored energy and toxins. This leads to sudden behavioural changes like aggression, confusion, or seizures. It often appears as a new problem, but it’s a culmination of long-term buildup.
Recalibration: If stress subsides, the system may recover. But if it does not, then chronic damage can occur, leading to repeated breakdowns.
This model reframes disease as a result of system overload rather than an external attack.
Noise, Crowding, & Chronic Stress
The Seal Conservation Society states that disturbance occurs when human activity alters normal behaviour, such as increased alertness, movement on haul-out sites, or flushing to the water. Disturbance becomes critical only if it decreases survival, reproduction, or causes population shifts.
As it goes, seals rely heavily on sound for navigation and communication. But, as we know, modern coastlines are increasingly noisy due to an ever-increasing range of human activities. Chronic noise activates stress responses and disrupts hormonal balance, and this invariably erodes the brain’s ability to regulate itself.
Crowding exacerbates stress as seals face competition for space and resources. Elevated stress lowers the threshold for damage from other exposures, such as chemicals and pollutants. All of this makes the nervous systems of the seals, in this case, more vulnerable to collapse.
Disrupted sleep from noise and disturbance further impairs recovery and this ultimately leads to a cumulative strain on their health.
Marine science researchers Chao Peng, Xinguo Zhao, and Guangxu Liu report that anthropogenic noise can cause auditory masking in marine animals. This leads to cochlear damage, altered behaviour, disrupted metabolism, and reduced population recruitment. As well as broader impacts on the health and the general ecosystem services of marine environments.
Marine science researcher Brandi Ruscher explains that true seals (Family Phocidae) rely on acoustic cues for orientation, communication, and detecting prey and predators. Their amphibious lifestyle requires hearing systems that function efficiently in both air and water, with adaptations varying across lineages and sometimes among species.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States notes that since the industrial age, human activities, such as shipping, oil and gas exploration, construction, and naval exercises, have all increased ocean noise. Because sound travels far underwater, these effects can be immediate and accumulate over time. Rosalind M. Rolland and other NOAA scientists are now having to study how such noise impacts marine mammals’ hearing and navigation using passive acoustic monitoring, autonomous technology, and other methods.
Environmental scientist R. J. O’Connor, social sciences researcher N. M. Ardoin, and marine scientist G. A. De Leo describe this as a “death by a thousand cuts”. This is when repeated disturbances prevent seals from resting and force them into the water, increasing energy expenditure. Watts refers to this as the “cost of immersion,” and notes that higher energy demands, sleep disruption, and increased predation risk occur while swimming.
Fat, Fasting, & Toxin Release
Seals store fat as energy reserves, but this process also, indiscriminantly it would seem, accumulates fat-soluble toxins. During fasting or stress, these toxins are then released into the bloodstream, and this triggers the acute poisoning symptoms.
Physiological stress acts like a switch and mobilizes these toxins, and it overburdens and overwhelms the body’s detoxification systems. This then results in neurological symptoms resembling rabies, such as aggression and confusion. But more accurately, it seems that these symptoms are actually due to accumulated toxins.
Michele La Merrill, an Associate Professor of Environmental Toxicology, explains that adipose tissue (AT) serves as a storage compartment for lipophilic persistent organic pollutants (POPs). She suggests that it plays a key role in the toxicokinetics of various drugs and pollutants. By sequestering POPs, AT protects other organs from overload.
However, this protective function can also be a long-term risk. Accumulated POPs increase the total body burden and are slowly released into the bloodstream, with release accelerating during weight loss. As is the case with Cape fur seals.
Research scientist Nolwenn Joffin notes that POP accumulation in AT can be both protective, diverting toxins from sensitive tissues, and harmful due to chronic pollutant release. Her research investigated the biological and toxic effects of POPs released from previously contaminated grafted AT in naïve mice.
The Hidden Stressors Along the Western Cape
The Western Cape is one of South Africa’s most intensively used coastal regions, with shipping, tourism, and construction contributing to continuous underwater noise and stress. Seals, adapted to remote habitats, now face chronic human presence, which has weakened their ability to manage toxins.
Environmental pressures like agricultural runoff, urban wastewater, and industrial pollution converge in this area and create a stress laboratory. When we consider all of this and then seals begin to show neurological symptoms, it suggests that their systems are more likely under strain rather than facing a new contagion.
The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) reports that degradation hotspots and cumulative impacts are often linked to ports and harbours. These areas increase fishing access, alter shorelines and currents, raise pollution levels, and also facilitate the spread of invasive species.
Pollution, including industrial, municipal, and noise sources, is a growing pressure on marine ecosystems. Seismic surveys for offshore oil and gas, combined with shipping and other underwater noise, are expanding into deeper waters and pose uncertain risks to marine species and ecosystems.
In this context, stress is a trigger that transforms background exposure into visible collapse. The focus should then shift from searching for a virus to understanding how much strain living systems can absorb before their behaviour changes. As it stands, that is not the case. All of the money and resources are going into a wild goose chase for what can best be described as a hobgoblin. And an imaginary one at that.
Part Six: The Collapse
Documented Rabies-Associated Seal Incidents (2024 – 2026)
In late 2023, government briefings revealed that stored seal samples from October would eventually and conveniently test positive for rabies. This was only recognized retrospectively in 2024, with no public alerts issued at the time. This finding later influenced the narrative that rabies had been circulating unnoticed for months.
By late May 2024, a Cape fur seal carcass was found in Bloubergstrand, and it was allegedly positive for rabies on June 7. This marked South Africa’s first officially confirmed case of rabies in Cape fur seals. The Western Cape Government then issued warnings advising against contact with seals and classified them as a rabies risk species. Additional suspected cases emerged at other urban beaches, which were heavily influenced by human activity.
By late June 2024, authorities reported several confirmed or suspected rabies cases along the Western Cape coastline, including Bloubergstrand and Plett. Environmental health briefings acknowledged that these were among the first recorded rabies cases in seals globally. The cases were rather curiously concentrated in densely populated coastal areas, rather than in remote marine environments. And that’s still the case.
As 2024 progressed, more positive cases were reported along the Overstrand and Garden Route, with local media citing at least 12 confirmed cases by July. 12! One seal in Mossel Bay was euthanized due to aggressive behaviour interpreted as consistent with rabies. However, no clear seal-to-seal transmission chains were documented.
By mid-2025, national reports indicated at least 39 confirmed rabies cases in seals across the Western and Northern Cape, identified through retrospective testing. 39! Despite the rising numbers, albeit absurdly small, occurrences unsurprisingly remained clustered near urban beaches, with little focus on environmental contexts.
On December 27, 2025, a seal in Plett displaying aggressive behaviour was euthanized and tested under national protocols. The local seal population was large, yet only a few individuals were implicated in rabies cases. On New Year’s Day 2026, a seal bit two beachgoers, leading to immediate euthanasia and heightened public warnings.
Despite dozens of confirmed rabies cases over two to three years, only a small fraction of the seal population was affected. The high incidence of cases appeared linked to human activity, pollution, and environmental stressors rather than a clear contagion.
Unusual or aggressive behaviour alone was not definitive proof of rabies. Nevertheless, it more often than not triggered knee-jerk euthanasia for testing. An all too human case of shoot first and ask questions… Never? Ultimately, official confirmation relied on post-mortem laboratory testing, using methods like PCR and antigen tests, which are not designed for diagnosis.
A clear pattern has emerged: There was no prior record of rabies in seals before 2023, and then sudden cases clustered near urban beaches highly influenced by human development. Meanwhile, the remarkably slow increase in cases did not demonstrate a clear transmission chain at any point. It still hasn’t.
That said, recent seal-human encounters have brought Cape fur seals into the public spotlight, with incidents of aggression occurring primarily between late 2024 and early 2026. Which curiously coincides with a solar maximum. Either way, these incidents have clustered along heavily used coastlines shaped by human activity.
Mainstream scientific discourse unthinkingly attributes these behaviours to rabies and frames an unisolated virus as the cause of aggression. This narrative raises uncomfortable questions about why suspiciously sporadic incidents primarily occur near polluted coastlines and during periods of environmental stress.
This stubborn focus on rabies does seem to simplify responses. Although it essentially overlooks the cumulative pressures affecting seal behaviour. Such as chemical exposure and habitat disruption. Terrain theory suggests that rather than asking what attacked the seal, we should consider what stressors the seal was already facing.
The label of rabies is, therefore, convenient for experts, as it allows for a streamlined response while masking deeper environmental issues. By framing the narrative this way, the ecological pressures leading to neurological failure remain unaddressed. Meanwhile, we’re all expected to behave as though the hobgoblin is real, and the toxic environments we have created are inconsequential.
Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, seals act as sensitive indicators of environmental health. They are proverbial canaries in the coal mine. Their visible stress signals hint loudly at broader ecological failures, and they show us the limits of systems unable to cope with accumulated environmental burdens. The subsequent behaviours we observe in seals highlight a warning about the conditions affecting all living systems. Not a new disease.
As seals forage in polluted waters, their glymphatic systems may struggle to clear waste, causing neurological instability. This perspective suggests that rabies-like behaviour may not stem from a novel virus. It may actually stem from the effects of chemical loads and environmental stress.
Once again, Dr. Marizelle Arce explains that infections are not attacks. They are responses to decay, to put it more accurately. Microbes like Vibrio vulnificus are not invaders. They are responders. When the waters are clean and bodies are healthy, these microbes are potentially in a completely different phase. Wounds ordinarily do not rot under vital conditions. This is important to understand.
At the end of the day, when land and organisms are chemically burdened, weakened, or slowed, Vibrio simply completes the decay process already set in motion. No poison, no decay. No decay, no Vibrio. It doesn’t start the breakdown. It finishes it.
The clustering of incidents near polluted coastlines indicates that these seals are not spreading disease. They are signaling environmental collapse. Their behaviours reveal a much deeper issue. One that modern diagnostic frameworks fail to address, as they are more focused on identifying pathogens than understanding the systemic overload.
Part Seven: The Narrative
The Vaccine Reflex
When alarming behaviours occur, the quick response is typically vaccination. This feels decisive and reassuring. However, this approach does not address underlying issues like chemical exposure, neurological overload, or habitat stress. Vaccines target presumed viral causes but can invariably become part of the animal’s toxic load. This naturally leads to the need for repeated vaccinations. Despite these efforts, troubling behaviours tend to persist, and they indicate that the root causes continue to remain unacknowledged, let alone unaddressed.
This focus on injections diverts attention from necessary systemic changes like cleaning waterways or reducing pollutants, which are far more complex and costly. And they aren’t as profitable, if at all. The vaccine reflex reinforces the narrative that disease stems from external threats. This allows pollution and environmental stressors to continue unchecked. By framing the problem as an external enemy, responsibility is displaced, leaving ongoing environmental degradation in its wake.
One Shot for Every Species
Pathogen-first thinking simplifies the narrative by attributing behavioural collapse to viruses rather than the surrounding conditions. This perspective sidelines environmental toxins and stresses. It also treats them as entirely secondary rather than primary drivers of health issues. When rabies enters the narrative, the focus shifts to tracking and managing cases. This intervention seems easier, as it avoids more difficult questions about the failure of ecosystems and nervous systems.
The virus-centric model allows authorities to respond without challenging agricultural practices or industries responsible for environmental degradation. This approach reinforces a belief that threats originate from the outside. And this has led to a costly reliance on vaccines as a solution. However, we’re constantly learning that biology is complex, and different species respond uniquely to environmental stressors.
The idea of a universal fix through vaccination completely overlooks these complexities, too. Wildlife management then appears to be outwardly proactive. But it ultimately, and rather damningly, fails to address the underlying environmental pressures. The rabies narrative benefits pharmaceutical companies and reinforces a profit-driven system where symptoms are managed without addressing deeper issues.
Who Benefits from the Rabies Virus Narrative?
The rabies narrative creates clear beneficiaries, particularly pharmaceutical companies, which thrive on vaccine production and post-exposure treatments. Research funding often aligns with virus detection and leaves little incentive to explore environmental causes. Government health agencies promote vaccination as an essential public health practice, which then shifts focus away from infrastructure issues, such as increasingly common failures in wastewater management.
In the article Rabies, Lies Are Unbekoming reports that the global rabies vaccine market was valued at about USD 732.24 million in 2023 and is projected to reach roughly USD 991.05 million by 2028, while growing at a compound annual growth rate of 6.24%. This is simultaneously shocking and unsurprising.
The public message is thus simplified to “one virus, one solution”. However, the complexity of the situation in the Western Cape raises questions that go beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. While rabies vaccines are said to be effective for domestic animals, their efficacy in marine mammals like Cape fur seals remains untested.
Dr. Lesley van Helden, a state veterinarian specialising in epidemiology with the Western Cape, claims, as many others do, that rabies exists in terrestrial mammals. But she admits that this is the first documented case of the alleged virus in marine life. She now considers it endemic in Cape fur seals, and according to her, wherever these seals occur along the coast, there is potential for rabies presence.
Dr. Ilse Jenkinson, a veterinarian of the Two Oceans Aquarium, notes that no rabies vaccine trials have been conducted on pinniped species, though research on other domestic and wildlife species provides a basis for unscientific extrapolation. Vaccine trials are only now underway to test efficacy in these marine mammals.
On the other hand, the South African Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development has come out and stated that large-scale vaccination of Cape fur seals is currently impractical. However, they also suggest that targeted vaccination of specific populations may be considered depending on research outcomes.
Critics, formerly known as conspiracy theorists, argue that the pathogen-first narrative benefits corporations more than patients or ecosystems, as it prioritizes products over prevention. The framing of disease as an external attack simplifies the narrative and diminishes the need for accountability for environmental degradation.
The reliance on vaccines invariably overlooks the need for a broader understanding of disease causation, which includes environmental stressors that may shape health outcomes. This cycle perpetuates a focus on consumable medical products and diverts attention from critical systemic issues that require our urgent attention.
Ultimately, the rabies narrative does more than pretend to explain seal behaviour. The carefully curated narrative sustains an economic model that prioritizes treatment over environmental responsibility. Approaching rabies through vaccines allegedly prevents human deaths, although I’d credit other factors first. But it fails to address the environmental context of unusual outbreaks. This oversight creates a dangerous sense of security while the real causes of health failures remain unexamined and unresolved.
Part Eight: The Fallout
Modern life heavily relies on chemicals from industrial agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and synthetic materials. All of which contribute to pollution that doesn’t disappear but rather accumulates in coastal ecosystems. These ecosystems inevitably become collection points for human byproducts, and this leads to altered environments that reshape wildlife biology. The dramatic collapses seen in seals reflect broader ecological failures, as ignorance and environmental neglect manifest biologically through nervous system changes and population declines.
What should be incredibly obvious by now is that pollution intersects with living organisms and causes abnormal behaviours in wildlife that signal a nervous system overwhelmed by stress. These symptoms are not random. They indicate that the environment has exceeded safe processing thresholds. Human inaction leads to predictable collapses, as biology responds to the conditions created by our activities.
Animal bites exemplify this interaction. When a seal bites, it introduces mechanical injury and bacteria into a body already strained by environmental stress. In a healthy terrain, the body effectively manages this. In a compromised system, however, the same bite can trigger a cascade of negative biological responses. This highlights that the injury reveals pre-existing vulnerabilities rather than introducing a new threat.
Case in point: The historical condition of “seal finger” illustrates that seals have long been associated with localized injuries that do not necessitate viral explanations. Instead, they reveal the accumulated stress and toxin loads within the body. The focus should also shift from what enters the system to the condition of the system itself.
Physicians Fredrick M. Abrahamian and Ellie J. C. Goldstein report that animal bite wound infections in humans are often polymicrobial. They involve both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Most bacteria reflect the oral flora of the biting animal, influenced by their diet, prey, or other foods. But it can also come from the victim’s skin or the surrounding environment.
Environmental health and toxicology researcher, Fu Chen, et al highlight that pollutants profoundly impact biological health and disrupt immune and endocrine systems across species. Their review shows these chemical threats are global, affecting ecosystems and populations, while wildlife serve as key indicators of ecological and health risks. Advances in monitoring technology now allow more precise tracking of wildlife health. This ultimately helps to forecast potential environmental crises.
Changing the narrative requires addressing environmental relationships rather than relying solely on medical interventions like vaccines. Understanding the impact of pollutants on both wildlife and humans emphasizes the need for systemic changes to prevent future collapses. This involves reassessing our practices in food production, waste management, and habitat preservation. Ultimately, the health of biological systems reflects the choices made in our interactions with the environment. Ignoring these signals comes at a cost, as the consequences of neglect will likely continue to manifest in both ecological and human health crises.
Part Nine: The Signal
“Occam’s razor, principle stated by the Scholastic philosopher William of Ockham (1285–1347/49) that pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate, ‘plurality should not be posited without necessity.’ The principle gives precedence to simplicity: of two competing theories, the simpler explanation of an entity is to be preferred. The principle is also expressed as ‘Entities are not to be multiplied beyond necessity.’” - Britannica, Occam’s Razor
Rabies serves as a warning rather than an enemy. Well-known behaviours like biting and aggression indicate a system overwhelmed by stress. In seals, these signs reflect not just individual failures. They also reflect environmental issues, including, but not limited to, pollution and human activity. Their symptoms signal an ecosystem under strain, and it should urge us all to recognize the behaviour changes as warnings of broader ecological collapse.
As discussed, the neurological decline in seals results from long-term environmental pressures, such as chemical runoff and noise pollution. It highlights our undeniable role in their plight. As seals appear to be affected before humans, their distress is a preview of potential human health issues. Addressing these concerns requires a shift in perspective, so that more people begin to recognize that the symptoms are not merely diseases and that they are instead indicators of systemic failure.
From my perspective, when you look at the Cape fur seals along the Western Cape, the patterns of neurological collapse, aggression, confusion, and erratic behaviour map almost perfectly onto what we would expect from a combination of upstream and downstream pollutants acting on compromised physiology. Individually, each toxin places a strain on the nervous system. Collectively, the effect is a systemic overload that mirrors the classical symptoms attributed to rabies.
Yet, the rabies virus has never been conclusively isolated from these animals, and no clear chain of contagion has ever been demonstrated. Applying Occam’s Razor, it becomes damningly obvious: The simplest, most explanatory model is not viral infection. The most logical explanation is terrain collapse.
The Cape fur seals are exhibiting a kind of terrain collapse syndrome. A direct consequence of environmental and metabolic stressors. Meanwhile, the traditional viral narrative fails to account for the realities of pollution, chemical burden, and systemic overload that these animals endure.
Leadership should be expected to prioritize infrastructure and pollution management, while individuals should be expected to take responsibility for their local environments. Grassroots efforts can drive meaningful change, as some communities have already begun to notice and respond to local ecological issues. Improving ecosystems does, unfortunately, involve uncomfortable choices. But it can also empower individuals to engage with their environments to foster resilience.
It should also be noted that personal health mirrors environmental health. This emphasizes the importance of maintaining a balanced internal terrain. Cleaner inputs, like nutritious food and hydration, will always support metabolic stability and resilience. Ultimately, the journey toward both individual and ecological health requires outward and inward reflection, conscious choices, and an unwavering commitment to nurturing both internal and external environments.
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