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Federal fisheries department seal biologist Mike Hammill said the mammals showed no sign of physical trauma other than the wounds inflicted by predators after death.
"They weren't killed by people, so it's something else that's come along," he said from Charlottetown following a tour of the island Sunday.
"The majority of them are weaned pups and they look in fairly good shape. They're fat, didn't seem to have any external markings on them."
Parts of the seals were taken for testing to the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown. Hammill said it could be weeks before a possible cause of death is identified.
The group of DFO scientists counted about 100 to 200 live adults and about a dozen juvenile seals.
Hammill confirmed the approximate number of dead seals that was initially reported by Humane Society International/Canada on Friday.
In a release, the group's executive director Rebecca Aldworth said she hadn't seen "this kind of mortality" in apparently healthy grey seals in her five trips to the island's seal colony.
The estimated number of dead seals grew from approximately 100 that were counted by Aldworth early last week.
She said the grey seal hunt should be halted until the cause of death is known and scientists can work out the possible implications that lie ahead for the herd. Viruses can run through a population of seals quickly, she said.
The one bright spot, Aldworth added, was that the hunt was unlikely to go ahead this year because most of the young seals have moved away from shore.
"Normally about this time there is no opportunity for the sealers to go out to kill the seals simply because the pups are now swimming and have moved away from the island."
Hammill said farther south off Canso there were no signs of an unusual number of dead seals.
"We should keep our eyes out but there's no concern for anything," he said.
"For the moment it's just something that's limited to this colony and it may not be a big deal at least at this stage."
Robert Courtney, a spokesman for seal hunters, offered no comment when reached on Sunday about the likelihood of a grey seal hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence this year.
There has been a few such deaths of birds and fish reported in the past months. There's always mention of tests to be done on the dead animals but this is never followed up. Would it be possible to do a piece detailing the results of any of the tests done in these cases? It would be interesting to find out what's going on.