Over 1000 Starving Sea Lion Pups Wash Ashore: Unusual Mortality Event Declared

The young sea lion pups that have washed ashore just keep coming, despite efforts to rehabilitate and release them back into the ocean. In fact, the official count of beached sea lions has now reached 1,100 in Southern California. Unfortunately, many of the pups that have been released are coming back again.

"Re-strandings" are not an uncommon occurrence. Yet what is uncommon is the sheer number of sea lions that have ended up on California beaches. These re-strandings, unfortunately, are only complicating the issue. In fact, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has declared an "unusual mortality event" for the animals.

The facilities that are helping the young, malnourished sea lions are currently being overrun by how many are being brought in--and it doesn't help that some are being brought in twice. For example, a female pup that was rescued and treated in San Pedro, California earlier in the year was rescued again about 400 miles away just last week.

"She had lost about half of her weight, so she was definitely emaciated," said Jim Oswald, a spokesman at the Marine Mammal Care Center in Sausalito, in an interview with NBC Los Angeles. "She also had a bit of pneumonia and she has a bit of an injury on her right flipper."

It's looking bad for these mammals. While sea lion pups are usually weaned from their mothers in April, it seems that many of the young mammals have been separated from their parents earlier this year. In fact, it's estimated that about 45 percent of the pups that were born in June at island rookeries off the Southern California coast have now died, according to the Washington Post.

Yet why exactly these mammals are washing ashore is unclear. Researchers believe that it's possible that female sea lions are staying out longer to forage for food. When their mothers seemingly don't return, the pups may journey in search of their own food. This could lead to them getting caught in currents and eventually finding their ways to the beach.

Currently, the centers that care for these sea lion pups are just trying to keep up with the numbers. Peter Wallerstein, the Marine Animal Rescue director for Friends for Animals, has picked up 300 sick and dying sea lion pups alone over just a few months. Researchers are continuing to try to find out exactly why so many have washed ashore.