PT23.S3.Q13 - "Baltic Seals". Why is the official correct AC correct????

jlo_1234

Hi everyone,
So bewildered by this question that I have to post on the discussion forum. Why is answer choice E correct??? After analyzing all the answer choices, it seems to me that NONE of the answer choices is even close to being correct. If someone can see a flaw in my reasoning, please advise.

Missing Assumption: the higher amount of pollutants in the Baltic Sea is making the Baltic seals more susceptible/succumb-able to viral diseases and therefore is what's causing the higher rate of viral deaths in Baltic seals (compared to Scottish seals).
In other words, we're assuming that it is not some alternative cause that's causing the higher viral death rate in the Baltic seals (for example, what if the viruses infecting the 2 islands are different, and the virus in the Baltic sea is just more deadly than the virus in the Scottish sea?)

A: Irrelevant - doesn't make it more believable that the higher rate of viral deaths in B is due to pollutants. Knowing more about the Scottish seals doesn't really matter here!
B: Might've be a potential strengthener if it said "Baltic seals" instead of "Scottish seals", but even then we would have to make the assumption that the virus infecting the two islands were the same kind of virus in order for us to see this as a strengthener.
However, it's still talking about the Scottish seals, which again is not what we care about!
C: Easiest choice to eliminate. Irrelevant!
D : "The kinds of pollutants" is irrelevant to our discussion here, because we care about the amount and not type of pollutants. In other words, even if the pollutants are different between the 2 islands are different, I'm not more convinced that the higher amount of pollutants in B is what resulted in the higher rate of viral deaths in B.
E: Also irrelevant to the issue at hand! Even if the viral death rate was higher for other sea mammals in the Baltic sea, it doesn't make me believe more that it is SPECIFICALLY the pollutants that are causing the higher viral death rates! The only thing this AC does for me is convince me that there is certainly something different between the Baltic and Scottish seas that's making the Baltic seals die more from viral diseases, however we have no idea if that "something" is pollutants or if it's something else! For example, given the additional info in E, it could still very well be that it is NOT the pollutants causing the higher viral death rates, but a deadlier virus that infects all marine mammals in the Baltic seas - because the virus in the Baltic sea is different and deadlier than the virus in the Scottish sea, the seals die more from this virus in the Baltic seas (than in the Scottish seas from the weaker virus). It could still very well be that the higher level of pollutants in the Baltic seals' blood is just a coincidence and not the real cause of their higher viral death rate.

If you see where I've gone wrong in my reasoning, please help!

Admin Note: https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-23-section-3-question-13/

EyeOfTheSlug

I agree with your assumption. Same line of reasoning.

A) Yes I agree, irrelevant.
B ) My reasoning: We don't know how similar the immune systems are for the seals so we can't derive anything good from this.
C) I don't think it's irrelevant, but this doesn't connect the turn the correlation of pollutant levels into them being the cause of the higher death rate.
D) I agree, we don't really care for the kind of pollutants unless we would be trying to weaken it.
E) It is not irrelevant. We have to focus on the argument, and not just the conclusion. One premise does include something relevant: that pollutants are known to impair marine animal immune systems. If higher pollutant levels were evident in that part of the ocean, would we also not expect to see a degradation of other marine animals in the area?

E doesn't prove the conclusion, but it certainly does strengthen it in my view.