The influx of sick, malnourished sea lion pups on California’s beaches is abating, but experts warned of a repeat next year unless the Pacific Ocean swiftly cools. About 2,900 pups have struggled ashore so far this year – 17 times the average number for strandings, said Jim Milbury, a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The statistic underlines a crisis in offshore rookeries where warming waters have disrupted feeding patterns, separating pups and yearlings from their mothers and forcing them to fend for themselves. “It’s dropped off but we’re still receiving sea lions,” said Laura Scherr, of the Marine Mammal Centre in Sausalito. “They’re coming in very emaciated ... really just a bag of bones near death.”