Baby Sea Lion Strandings Slow after 1,300 Sick and Starving Pups Wash Ashore

Sea lions are not doing well off of the California coast. Since January, about 1,300 sick and starving sea lion pups have washed ashore all the way from San Diego to Santa Barbara. Now, though, the sea lion pup epidemic may be abating, allowing shelters and rehabilitation centers to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

That's not to say that the worst is over, though. Facilities have struggled to keep up with the tide of sea lions being brought in for care all year. Although the animals are eventually released into the wild, some of them reappear only weeks later. This phenomenon, called a "re-stranding," is not an uncommon occurrence. 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 only weeks later.

"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."

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. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has declared an "unusual mortality event" for the animals.

In fact, the number of baby sea lions that have rescued from southern California beaches this year is 5.5 times higher than the historical average, according to Wired. It's possible that a food shortage could explain why so many pups are washing ashore. Researchers believe 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.

Fortunately, it seems that the tide of sea lion pups may be coming to an end. In the last week or so, rescue centers handling these cases have seen fewer starving pups being brought to them, according to Wired. SeaWorld in San Diego, for example, reports only a half-dozen pup rescues in the last week--that's far fewer than the more than a dozen rescues per day earlier this year. In addition, Marine Animal Rescue in El Segundo is also reporting fewer cases; instead of a dozen rescues per day, there's a dozen over three or four days.

That said, it will be quite some time before officials can truly say that the rate of rescues has come to an end. The current numbers could be due to fewer people visiting the beach and, in consequence, fewer pups being brought in. Rescue centers will continue to monitor the situation over the coming weeks.