Record Sea Lion Pup Strandings Reported In Southern California

By Marty Graham
SAN DIEGO, Jan 28 (Reuters) – California sea lions – especially pups – are branch adult stranded and carnivorous on Southern California beaches in record numbers this year, withdrawal experts disturbed that this winter might be a misfortune deteriorate ever documented for a sea mammals.
The accurate means is not clear, though scientists trust a sea lions are pang from a nonesuch of healthy chase that army nursing mothers to try over out to sea for food, withdrawal their immature behind for longer durations of time.
Experts posit that this winter’s amiable El Nino effect, that alters sea currents and temperatures, might be compounding a necessity of fish that sea lions rest on for food, pronounced Keith Matassa, executive executive of a nonprofit Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach.
That group’s puppy rescues for a month are already using 20 percent above a same duration in 2013, when a National Marine Fisheries Service announced an “unusual mankind event” in that 5 times a normal series of pups were in need of assistance, Matassa said.
While a infancy of a stranded animals this year are reduction than 1 year old, svelte adults are also branch up, Matassa said.
Officials during SeaWorld in San Diego and a Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro also reported a thespian boost in a series of sea lions they are rescuing and rehabilitating.
“Our numbers are twice what they were in 2013,” pronounced David Bard, operations executive of a San Pedro center. “In 2013, we saw an rare series of rescues, it was a record then.”
Bard’s trickery has taken in some-more than 70 discovered sea lion pups given December, he said, while a Laguna Beach core has taken in 29. SeaWorld has discovered 62 sea lions – juveniles and adults – given Jan. 1, with 15 carnivorous pups entrance in during a past 3 days, rescue group coordinator Jody Westberg said.
It takes 6 to 8 weeks for a pinnipeds to recover adequate strength to be returned to a wild.
Inside an enclosing during SeaWorld, about a dozen neat pups barked and neat any other on Wednesday, preoccupied to a bird that had come to take their food.
“When they came in, they couldn’t lift their heads, so to see them start bathing and barking, that means they’re feeling most better, most some-more themselves,” SeaWorld veterinarian Dr. Hendrik Rollens said. “They are prepared to go behind to a wild.” (Editing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/29/sea-lion-pup-strandings-california_n_6567110.html?utm_hp_ref=los-angeles&ir=Los+Angeles