On the beaches of Portland, Victoria, a virus older than human memory is pressing against the boundaries of what we have come to love. H5N1 bird flu, confirmed in dozens of seabirds since late July 2026, has turned a quiet coastal town into a front line — not only for wildlife management, but for the deeper question of what we owe the creatures who share our shores. The fate of Sammy, a southern elephant seal who has made Portland his home, has come to stand for something larger: the vulnerability of species whose greatest strengths — their sociability, their closeness, their trust — may now b
Beloved seal Sammy at risk as bird flu devastates Victorian coastal town
Thousands of seal pups died from H5N1 on Heard Island in 2025-2026; ongoing bird deaths causing prolonged suffering as wildlife carers attempt emergency euthanasia.