Seal deaths up along the coast

NOAA blames El Niño condition

Dead seals and sea lions  — possible victims of starvation caused by El Niño conditions — are littering the beaches of California and Oregon.

Yearlings and new pups have been dying by the thousands from Chile to Oregon, wildlife officials reported.

On Oct. 2, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the die-off is due to upwellings caused by an El Niño pool of warm water currently developing in the Pacific. The upwelling disrupts the food chain, causing a domino effect and leaving the pinnipeds without food.

Older seals and sea lions know where to go to find food during lean times, but mothers must leave their pups to find food and yearlings don’t yet have enough experience to find a meal, according to Vicky Farr, marine mammal stranding coordinator for the North Cast Marine Mammal Center in Crescent City.

The center has treated 85 animals this summer, compared to a “normal” summer of about 50 animals, Farr said. More than 100 have been treated since January.

The Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, just north of San Francisco, treated more than 1,200 seals and sea lions this summer.

The worst is over, Farr said. Currently the Crescent City facility only has four animals in its care.

However, the summer of death has left seal and sea lion carcasses rotting on beaches.

Visitors to Crissey Field Welcome Center south of Brookings have reported several sea lions either sick or dead in the area. Most are left on the beach to allow natural processes to dispose of the carcasses, U.S. Forest Service Information Assistant Jackie Rungulet said.

But the El Niño is not the only explanation for pinniped deaths.

“There is plenty of their food out there for them right now, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Resource Specialist Brandon Ford said.

Usually seal and sea lion deaths could be caused by leptospirosis infections. Leptospirosis is a bacterial kidney disease which is almost always fatal to sea lions and seals.

“If you see a sea lion or seal bent over and miserable looking, it’s probably leptospirosis,” Ford said.

The disease can be treated by antibiotics, but only if it is caught early. The illness reduces energy for finding fish, as well as appetite.

Since sea lions and seals get almost all of their water from the fish they eat, starvation leads to dehydration and death.

Official urge people to stay away from sick or dead animals and do not touch them, Ford said.

“People can get (leptospirosis), too,” he said.

Dogs should not be let loose on beaches while dead sea mammals are on the beach. Dogs tend to root into dead animal carcasses.

“It can affect them, it’s pretty bad stuff,” Ford said.

Don't touch sick seals 

Wildlife officials offer the fo lowing advice regarding dead or sick sea mammals:

Do not touch beached mammals. These animals are sometimes aggressive and can inflict severe bites

Keep people and pets away

Do not disturb or chase them into the water. Animals may simply be resting and may not need help

Note the exact location, including landmarks. In California call the Marine Mammal Center in Crescent City at 707-457-3138. In Oregon call the Oregon State University Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline at 541-270-6830