{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Figlobenews-pods.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fepisode-116-RYgEMnTW","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"Episode 116: The Virus That Empties Beaches: How a New Bird Flu Decimates Elephant Seal Populations","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/3b5fa1c7-2d36-491a-946f-7c143d7e46b0/d7f62915-ce98-42f4-8b14-5ffcb14cd4f1/screenshot_2026_05_13_at_140451.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"<iframe src=\"https://player.simplecast.com/adee82b1-b519-4aa8-ad99-d11a2ee536b3\" height=\"200\" width=\"100%\" title=\"Episode 116: The Virus That Empties Beaches: How a New Bird Flu Decimates Elephant Seal Populations\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"></iframe>","height":200,"description":"In late October 2024, researchers flying drones over the beaches of South Georgia expected to see what had defined the island for decades: dense colonies of southern elephant seals packed along the shore. Instead, large stretches of sand lay strangely empty. What first appeared to be a temporary anomaly soon revealed itself as one of the most dramatic marine mammal population collapses ever recorded in the Southern Atlantic and the consequence of a new virus.\n"}