A little island off the coast of Northern California, between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, is Anʃo Nuevo Island, where more than 250 dead California sea lion pups have been seen..
Director Patrick W. Robinson of Año Nuevo Reserve said he initially “observed an unusual increase in the number of aborted California sea lion fetuses at Año Nuevo Island about two weeks ago” in an email on Thursday.”
According to an airborne study, there were 288 dead sea lion pups on May 14 after an estimated 50 were seen on May 7, according to Robinson, a lecturer at UC Santa Cruz.
Necropsies on multiple stillborn pups were performed on May 16 by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the UC Santa Cruz campus veterinarian Megan Moriarty, and a local marine mammal stranding network. However, Robinson said that “no obvious cause of death” was found.
Robinson stated, “This is definitely an unusual event, but we don’t yet know the cause.” He went on to say that other researchers working in Mexico and the Channel Islands have also made comparable discoveries, suggesting that this is more than just a local occurrence.
Read Also: Authorities Seize 41 Pounds of Meth in Arapahoe County Operation
Mid-May pups ‘typically do not survive’: Robinson stated that the Año Nuevo Island “lies at the edge of the breeding range” for sea lions and is a relatively new colony compared to the main ones in the Southern California Channel Islands. Peak pupping season for the species is mid-June, as per Robinson, and pups born in mid-May “usually do not survive.”
Does the rise in sea lions in San Francisco have anything to do with this event?
Speaking about the possible connection between this occurrence and the sea lion invasion at a San Francisco pier, Robison stated that “several anomalous events happening right now, and it is not clear if they are connected.”
“Many pelicans have been in distress, cormorant nesting is delayed, [the] sea lions’ stillbirths, and the influx of sea lions in San Francisco’s Pier,” Robison stated.
