– NBC: Record level of sick or injured California seals and sea lions turning up — “The numbers are extraordinary” — “Scientists worried… The worst kind of perfect storm” — Pups should be weighing 2 or 3 times as much, “severely malnourished” (VIDEO) (ENENews, April 18, 2014):
NBC Bay Area, Apr. 18, 2014: Seals and sea lions in California are turning up sick or injured at a record pace this year. Sausalito’s Marine Mammal Center has more animals in its care right now than ever before in its 39-year history. There are three factors at play: First of all, this is the time of year when pups get stranded or separated from their mothers for an unknown reason. Also last year’s sea lion epidemic sent malnourished, sick pups onto California shores at record levels. On top of that, a Monterey Bay algae bloom is making a lot of animals sick. Experts say it’s creating the worst kind of perfect storm.
NBC Southern California, Apr. 17, 2014: Scientists Worry Sea Lion Epidemic May Return […] Marine scientists are worried about the increasing number of sick, often severely malnourished, sea lions showing up at a San Pedro care facility. […] An increase in the number of stranded sea lion pups in Southern California has scientists and marine mammal experts asking the question, “Could it be happening again?” […] The center was caring for more than 200 mammals Thursday, most of them California sea lion pups. […] During a normal year, in comparison, the center takes in about 250 animals total. […] Experts hope what they were dealing with last year was an anomaly rather than a new normal for California’s sea lion pup population.
Kaitlin Rixon, National Marine Mammal Foundation volunteer: “Right now, when we are doing intake, we are seeing the sea lion pups to be around 20 pounds. They should be around 50 pounds, so they are severely malnourished.”
David Bard, director of Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro: “It was definitely linked to food availability or the distribution of their normal food source last year.[…] Is it related to human activity along the coastline […] or is it something of a natural source?”
Jeff Boehm, Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito: The numbers are extraordinary […] “Out of the gates this year, it’s a record-setting pace. We don’t know what May is going to bring us yet. We don’t what June is going to bring us yet. We’ve had peaks of activity as late as October.”
See also: L.A. Times: Alarming West Coast sardine crash likely radiating through ecosystem — Experts warn marine mammals and seabirds are starving, may suffer for years to come
Watch NBC’s Bay Area broadcast here and Southern California broadcast here
Flashback:
– The Pacific Is Broken: ‘After We Left Japan, It Felt As If The Ocean itself Was Dead’ – ‘I’m Used To Seeing Turtles, Dolphins, Sharks And Big Flurries Of Feeding Birds’ – ‘But This Time For 3000 Nautical Miles There Was Nothing Alive To Be Seen’
Related info:
– Experts: Sea Stars Decimated On West Coast – Population Ravaged As Mystery Disease Spreads South, ‘Gone From 100s To ZERO …’
– ‘Ultra-Rare’: Up To 70 Endangered False Killer Whales By California Coast
– Head Of Radiation Testing Program On West Coast: Fukushima Plume Could Threaten Ecosystems … Whatever Is In The Kelp Will Get In Bodies Of Those Animals Also
– Fukushima Explains Unprecedented Concentrations Of Whales And Other Sea Life Clustered Just Off West Coast
– US Gov’t: Scientists investigating if Fukushima radiation contributed to unusual deaths and sickness in marine mammals – Expect ‘hairless seals’ this spring
– Massive Die-Off Of Oysters And Scallops In Pacific Northwest: ‘Millions Of Shellfish Dying’ – ‘By July Mortality Hit 95 To 100 Percent’
– 60 Bald Eagles Dead In Utah Since December (Not From West Nile Virus) (See related article below.)
– More Than 400 Dead Dolphins Found In Northern Peru
– Hawaii: More Than 500 Deep-Sea Lanternfish, Squid Found Dead Or Dying
– West Coast Sea Stars Melt Into Mush, ‘Just Vaporized … It’s The Change Of My Lifetime’ – ‘Ripping Themselves Apart … Innards Spilled Out’
– Alaska Professor: Fukushima Fallout A Suspected Factor In ‘Unusual Mortality’ Of Seals And Walrus
– Conditions Never Seen Before By Scientists In Pacific Seals And Walrus – Thyroid Cysts, Lesions Of Reproductive System, Retained Placenta
– Reports: White ‘goo’ everywhere in Alaska seal, crows won’t touch it… yet they eat people’s roofs — Slime in ones mouth, kidney almost black
– Problems with killer whales local to West Coast — Only baby born in 2013 died — Just two born in 2012 — Depleted fish supply blamed
– Conjoined Baby Gray Whales Found On West Coast Of N. America – Could Be First Ever Recorded — 2 Heads And 2 Tails, Joined In Middle (Video & Photo)
– L.A. Times: Alarming West Coast sardine crash likely radiating through ecosystem — Experts warn marine mammals and seabirds are starving, may suffer for years to come — Boats return without a single fish — Monterey Bay: Hard to resist idea that humpback whales are trying to tell us something
– ‘We see radiation from Fukushima in soils in Southern California, especially our desert regions’ – High concentrations in seaweed prevented harvest this year — Also found in cattle and chicken feed
– Scientists: Starfish Wasting Disease Outbreak Could Be Due To Fukushima Radiation
– LA Times: Experts suggest bald eagle deaths are related to Fukushima radiation – Idaho officials reporting similar sickness – ‘It’s hard to have your national bird in your arms, going through seizures’
– Unprecedented Decline In Alaska King Salmon
– Mystery Illness Killing Bald Eagles In Western U.S. – Wings Paralyzed, Full Blown Seizures
– Pelicans Starving In Pacific Northwest Since 2011, Killing Baby Birds For Food – ‘Sardine Crash’ Persists In Pacific Since Decline In 2011
– ‘Unprecedented Activity’ Near Canada’s West Coast: Whales In Record Numbers, Displaying Highly Unusual Behavior
– Marine Biologist: All Sea Stars Along West Coast Of North America Could Be Wiped Out
– Large Die-Off Of Alaska Seabirds From Disease Never Found Before In State History
– CNN: The Pacific Has Seen Its Fair Share Of Weird Recently – Bay In California ‘Now A Massive Soup Bowl’ – ‘Miles Of Anchovies, Mountains Deep’
– Study: Dead Sea Creatures Covered 98% Of Seafloor Last Year 150 Miles Off California Coast – Unprecedented!!!
– Weird Things’ Happening On California Coast: Unknown Toxic Algae Blooms Proliferating; Unprecedented Mass Of Oxygen-Poor Water – Mystery Strandings Of Large Squid Covered Miles And Experts Baffled … ‘Essentially Killing Themselves’
– San Francisco Chronicle: Fukushima Radiation Possible Culprit In Huge Starfish Die Off From Mexico To Alaska
– California: Threat Of ‘Dead Zone’ Developing Off Sonoma Coast
– Sea Star Die-Off Worse Than Thought; Now Over Entire West Coast; Going From One Species To Others
– Whale Expert Near Vancouver: In 30 Years I’ve Never Ever Seen This Kind Of Behavior, ‘They Must Sense This Is A Safe Place To Be’
– NBC Nightly News: “Another highly troubling report about what’s going on in the Pacific” — Millions of starfish ‘melt away’ from Alaska to California — Expert: Fukushima radiation ‘not ruled out’ as factor in epidemic — Very, very different than anything seen before
– CBS News: 100s Of Whales In Bay On California Coast – Experts: ‘A Once-In-A-Lifetime Chance … Unheard Of, It’s Unbelievable’
– Expansive ‘Death Zone’ Of Birds On Alaska Island, Perhaps Thousands Washed Ashore
– CBC News: Something Very Odd Is Happening In Pacific; Sea Creatures Acting Strangely
– Rarely Seen Sea Creature Normally Living At The Depths Of The Ocean Caught Off Miami Beach
– Unprecedented Concentration Of Sea Creatures Near Shore In California
– ‘Lots Of Sea Birds Washing Up Dead’ In Alaska (Photos)
– Alaska Island Shows Impacts From Fukushima – ‘Significant Cesium Isotope Signature’ Detected – Scientists Anticipate More Marine Life To Be Impacted As Ocean Plume Arrives
– Hundreds Of Sea Turtles Wash Up Dead On Pacific Coast – Dogs ‘Stopped Breathing And Died Almost Instantly’ When Eating Them
– Scientists ‘Especially Worried’: ‘We Don’t Know How The Pathogen Is Doing This’ – Sea Star Broke In Half, Walked Away, Then Turned To Goo
– Starfish Turn To ‘Slime’ Along Pacific Coast … ‘We’re Talking About A Loss Of Millions And Millions’
– Fishermen Boats Surrounded By Hundreds Of Dead (Nearly Extinct) Eastern Pacific Green Sea Turtles
– (UPDATED) ‘Extraordinary’ string of whale and dolphin encounters off Canada’s Pacific coast “could have a deeper meaning” — Indigenous Academic Adviser: “We see them as our relatives, as ancestors… It’s for the better of all of us to listen” (VIDEO)
– Sea Star ‘Ripping Itself Into Pieces’ – Like A Horror Movie – AP: Deaths From Alaska To S. California – Prof: ‘None Of Us Had Ever Seen Anything Like This Before’
– Sardine Population Plummets Along U.S. West Coast – ‘Canadian Pacific Fishermen Catch No Sardines In 2013? – AP: Collapse Of Species Feared
– West Coast Sea Stars Mysteriously Dying Off (KING 5 News Video): ‘Why Scientists Are So Concerned About The Rapidly Spreading Disease’
– Something Is Killing Life All Over The Pacific Ocean
– Head Researcher “Is Sounding The Alarm’ Over Dramatic Changes In Pacific Northwest Killer Whales
– 28 Signs That The West Coast Is Being Absolutely Fried With Nuclear Radiation From Fukushima