Emaciated Sea Lion Pups Increasing in Numbers Rhodi Lee - Tech News
go to original February 8, 2015

Hundreds of sea lion pups have turned up emaciated on a 600-mile stretch of California beaches this birthing season and marine mammal researchers don't know why. (Fox/Pwicked4x4)

Researchers are puzzled why hundreds of frail and starving sea lion pups continue to be washed ashore in California beaches.

Rescuers have been netting over 250 sick juvenile sea lions from San Diego to San Francisco Bay since January.

Most of these ill and hungry pups were seven months old and were supposed to be nursing with their mothers in Mexico or the Channel Islands.

This year is the third year in a row when massive numbers of young sea lions have been dying off. Alarmingly, the 2015 figures also happen to be the worst.

More pups are being taken into rehabilitation facilities this year than in 2013, when the National Marine Fisheries Service declared a rare "unusual mortality event." If this continues, there could be long-term effects on sea lion population, experts believe.

Read the rest at Tech News

Photo: Daily Mail

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