Fewer sea lion pup standings this year — They are already dead
Fewer sea lion pup standings this year — They are already dead
By Karen Graham 3 hours ago in Environment .
In Chile and California this year, sea lion pup stranding's are down significantly from last year, but this is actually bad news. The youngsters aren't washing ashore hungry, sick and disorientated because most of them are dead.
The numbers coming in, along with the graphic pictures of hundreds of dead sea lion pups is disheartening and gut-wrenching. But marine scientists continue to record their findings from the beaches of northern Chile, Peru and further north into southern California.
In Chile, most of the dead pups have been found on a small peninsula in the northern part of the country over the past three months, and are just a small part of a massive die-off being seen elsewhere along South America's Pacific Coast, according to WTVR-Richmond.
Researcher Carlos Guerra-Correa, who is director of the Regional Center for Environmental Studies and Education at Antofagasta University, was quoted by CNN as saying, “This is happening along the entire coast of northern Chile and we’re getting reports that it’s also happening in Peru, our neighbor to the north. We could be talking about hundreds of sea lions washing up ashore dead in the entire region.”
Marine researchers regularly conduct their studies around the Mejillones Peninsula in Antofagasta province, where the South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) has been affected by the die-off. Guerra-Correa says he is particularly concerned because the majority of the sea lions have been newborns, although a few juveniles and adults have been found.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/environment/fewer-sea-lion-pup-standing-s-this-year-they-are-already-dead/article/458775#ixzz41QRVtFoL
= new reply since forum marked as read
El Nino = less phytoplankton nutrients = less sardines and anchovies = starving sea lions.
I hate people.
