Dana Feldman PlanetArk 15 Mar 13;
Sick and malnourished sea lion pups are stranding themselves on Southern California beaches in some of the largest numbers seen in over a decade, perplexing scientists and leading one care facility to declare itself near capacity.
Officials at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, California, have said they are in emergency mode.
The last time they saw such an onslaught of the mammal pups this early in the year was 1998, when an "El Nino" weather pattern warmed the waters off the California coast.
Fish migrated away from shore, which forced adult sea lions to swim farther to chase them and made it harder for mother sea lions to care for their young.
Animal rescuers believe adult sea lions are again foraging deeper into the ocean this year, but the reasons are unclear. What has been evident is the poor health of the many sea lion pups stranding themselves on beaches.
"As of a month ago, there were high numbers but in a less critical state - now we have high numbers in a critical state," Keith Matassa, executive director of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, told Reuters.
The Pacific Marine Mammal Center, located about 45 miles south of Los Angeles, took in 12 sea lion pups on Saturday, which was the largest number of admissions in a single day in the center's 42-year history.
Officials at the facility, the only one of its kind in Orange County, said they were caring for over 90 sea lions on Wednesday. "We're not at max capacity but we're reaching a critical state," Matassa said.
Pacific Marine Mammal Center's busy season is normally from April through August, which coincides with when most of the mammals are born. Last year in March, the facility was caring for only 10 sea lions, which was an average number.
Marine Mammal Care Center at Fort MacArthur in Los Angeles also has seen many sea lion pups in need of care and is housing over 100 of the mammals, said director David Bard.
Christine Sephenson, 24, and her friend Raeann Rodriguez, 30, were walking along the sand in Laguna Beach on Wednesday when they almost tripped over a sick pup and called the center to have it picked up.
"He had wounds all over and was coughing and could barely open his eyes," Stephenson said. "You could see his ribs, he was crying."
Back at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, several emaciated pups, with visible rib cages, lay in bundles in temperature-controlled rooms as veterinarians cared for them.
When the pups first arrive, they are put on a formula that includes dehydration remedy Pedialyte and sweetener Karo syrup. As the mammals get more healthy, fish is blended into their diet. It takes two to four months for the pups to get well.
"We're a hospital so not all patients will make it through," Matassa said.
A necropsy is performed on any animal that does not survive, as part of the effort to understand what is ailing the pups this year. "Even in death they can give us a lot of answers as to what's going on," Matassa said.
Spike in Sick Sea Lions Along Calif. Coast Puzzles Scientists
Megan Gannon LiveScience.com Yahoo News 4 Apr 13;
Sickly, emaciated sea lion pups have been turning up on California's coastline in unusually high numbers since January — with live strandings nearly three times higher than the historical average.
Officials say the strandings have intensified this month, and they're starting to investigate the possible causes, while marine mammal rehabilitation centers in the area have been overwhelmed with starving, hypothermic and dehydrated pups.
The problem is most pronounced in Los Angeles County, where 395 sea lion strandings have been reported this year as of March 24, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). During the same period in 2012, just 36 strandings were reported.
Stranding rates are also high in Orange County, where 189 sickly sea lions have come ashore, compared with 20 last year. And in San Diego County, strandings stood at 214, compared with 32 last year.
Last week, NOAA declared an "unusual mortality event," from January to the present and has launched an investigation, which will involve testing blood and tissue samples from both live and dead sea lion pups for bacterial, viral and other infectious agents as well as radioactive traces. [Photos: World's Cutest Baby Wild Animals]
Officials from the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, Calif., told the Los Angeles Times that they are treating about 100 animals and have seen as many cases since January that they would normally see in a year.
The goal is to get these sea lions healthy and rehabilitated so that they can be safely released back into the wild. But sometimes the animals strand themselves again and again and then go on to become research subjects.
Take Ronan, for example, a California sea lion that stranded three times before she was taken in to the Pinniped Cognition and Sensory Systems Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She made headlines this week when researchers published the results of a study that showed the sea lion had learned how to headbang to songs like the Backstreet Boys' "Everybody." Ronan might be the first non-human mammal to prove she can dance.
