– Alarm as record numbers of seals & sea lions ‘starving to death’ along California coast — “It’s just spiked… calls started coming nonstop” — “So many unhealthy… washing ashore” — “Extremely complex issue… multitude of factors in play” — “Definitely a mystery, we’re hoping it’s not the new norm” (ENENews, May 4, 2014):
Orange County Register, May 2, 2014: Sea lions are […] washing ashore, many of them pups dehydrated, malnourished and on the brink of death. The year started off quieter than last year, and the Pacific Marine Mammal Center’s director of development, Melissa Sciacca, thought they were in the clear – until about a month ago, when the calls started coming in nonstop. […] “We thought it was going to be a nice calm year; in the last month it’s just spiked,” she said. “The rescues just keep coming in at a steady pace.” It’s the second year stranded sea lions have been reported in alarming numbers. […] Last year, scientists tested for radioactivity, and it was determined that wasn’t the cause, and infectious disease was also ruled out.
San Francisco Chronicle, May 3, 2014: Young seals, sea lions starving in record numbers — Rescuers are scrambling to save a record number of young sea lions and seals along California’s northern and central coast while scientists work to understand why the animals are beaching themselves […] The emaciated and dehydrated pups are turning up along the 600 miles of coastline from Mendocino to San Luis Obispo monitored by the Marine Mammal Center. Many are too weak to move after washing ashore […] As of Wednesday, the center had brought in 429 California sea lions, elephant seals, harbor seals and fur seals this year. That’s well above the 291 animals admitted by the same date last year […] Southern California witnessed an almost 70 percent die-off of young sea lions – those born in summer 2012 – near the Channel Islands, where most American sea lions breed.
Sharon Melin, NOAA biologist: “In 2013, it was only the young animals that tried to do it on their own […] this year there’s lots of stranding going on, but those are a different age-class of pups.”
Dr. Shawn Johnson, Marine Mammal Center: “The ones we are seeing are basically starving to death […] It’s definitely a mystery. We’re hoping it’s not the new norm.”
Coastline Pilot, May 1, 2014: “In the last month we’ve seen the rescues spike,” [Pacific Marine Mammal Center’s Keith Matassa] said. […] Researchers are still trying to determine why so many unhealthy sea lions are washing ashore. “The reasons behind the animal strandings are an extremely complex issue,” Matassa said. “Although there is a leading theory that their food source is playing a significant role, there are a multitude of factors that come in to play.”
“Starving to death”? From last week: SF Chronicle: “Unbelievable hordes” of fish near California coast; Most birds, sea lions, dolphins, whales anywhere — Expert: ‘Off the charts’ pelican population “highly unusual… could reflect breeding failures elsewhere”; “Abnormal o
Related info:
– Acute Hemorrhaging Found In Dead Snowy Owls Along West Coast – Mortality Event Began 8 Months After Fukushima Explosions
– ‘Marine Mystery’ in California: “Toxic outbreak threatening marine life” — Birds falling from sky, sea lions convulsing — “Worst they’ve ever seen” — Toxin hits record level, almost 1,000% above gov’t limit — Heart lesions, severe shrinking in part of brain, nervous system failure
– SF Chronicle: ‘Unbelievable hordes’ of fish near California coast; Most birds, sea lions, dolphins, whales anywhere – Expert: ‘Off the charts’ pelican population ‘highly unusual… could reflect breeding failures elsewhere’
– 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’
– 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
– 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’
I saw the most disgusting spin on this story I have ever seen on the headline of the Sonoma County Press Democrat………(northern CA)
It said to “enjoy the rare sightings of the humpback whale, sea lions, dolphins, etc. It said the sight of these animals was “very rare” and people should show their children”…….
I about threw up.
These animals are here because this is the last part of the Pacific Ocean where these animals can get enough oxygen to breathe……this is really bad news. It tells me my calculations the Pacific had until the end of 2015 was overly optimistic…….these animals are starved and sick already….and they are here in a last desperate attempt to live.
Does anyone else realize the portend of a dead ocean? The vulture animals that normally eat the dead animals won’t touch these, they can smell the radioactive difference, and won’t go near them.
There are no services in place to clean up these dead animals, no warning signs to tell people to stay away…..the stench will be unbearable.
I always wanted to live on the beach, made it as far as a coastal rainforest, very close, but protects one’s cars from the salt. Unfortunately, plutonium and cesium collects in trees, it is 5X as radioactive as the cities where the streets and walkways are washed every few days.
To all my good friends who live on the ocean, get out. Soon, nobody will want to go to the beach, let alone live there.
This nightmare is unfolding faster than I thought it would.
Already, there is trash from Japan collecting on US beaches, soon there will be dead animals. Nobody is trained or clothed to dispose of them…..and there is no system in place for people to rid us of them.
This is really terrible news for the west coast.
A few months ago, hundreds of dead sea turtles washed ashore in Costa Rica. Dogs raced to eat them, and died instantly. That tells me the radioactive poisons are far stronger than we are being told, and the danger is much higher.
Those of us on the west coast are going to die very soon.
I remember when the fanatics used to say CA would fall into the ocean when I was a small child. They were wrong, but CA will be the first unlivable state, along with OR, WA, Alaska……..etc.
One other note, although I am no bible nut, I have read it twice cover to cover. First was to win arguments with fool religious fanatics, second was due to my theology classes in my last year of college 1978-79.
Much of what I am seeing here is biblical. I have never taken the bible literally, and am shocked at some of the resemblances. I would never have dreamed it.
The stories are far older than the bible, they are part of Oral Tradition carried through the centuries by the story tellers. Every religion has had a violent end, a resurrection and ascension. Every religion had a trinity…….
I don’t take it literally now, but there are lessons there, and it looks like we are facing some terrible times. Without a live ocean, millions will die……..the radiation from Fukushima, Hanford, WA, New Mexico, and San Diego darn need assure the death of all in CA and OR.
This is so depressing. We have fools in power, and no way to get rid of them……..
We are finished, and few of these fools seem to realize it. It will take 50 years? We don’t have 50 years…….we are lucky if we have 5 years.
I happened upon a young sea lion tonight, 3 jetties North of the Balboa Pier (not the one with the Ruby’s), who was moving very slowly away from the surf, on the sand of the beach. He appeared ill, in that he barely reacted to my coming within five feet of him. I could get him to turn towards the water but not to advance into it. And when I withdrew he turned slowly toward land and began moving inward again. Not exactly a pup, about 22 inches from nose to rump.
I asked several people who to contact about this, but no one offered any suggestions. He’s still out there, and it appears he’s in trouble, if anyone who knows who to contact is monitoring this.