Hungry young Sea Lions are washing up at California's shore for the third year in a row. Nearly five hundred of these little guys are being taken care of in rehabilitation centers and it is anticipated that there will be more. Though they are being taken care of and nursed back to health it is very clear that there is an issue. Most disturbing, the pups are less than half the weight they should be and it is even stranger they are showing up on the coast so early in the year when they should be with their mothers on their Channel Island. Though the numbers of pups aren't as high as the first year, they have begun to show up in more than just southern California and are now reaching northern regions of the state. The best guesses as to why this is happening is of decreases in fish populations or a massive warm patch of ocean water.
Pup Sea Lions in rehabilitation centers are first and foremost getting their weights back to normal. Once they get stronger, they learn to catch fish like they would from their mothers and then graduate from "fish school". This is one instance when places like SeaWorld are actually helpful to the species.
Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150211-sea-lions-pups-stranding-starving-california/
I wonder what this means about the environment...
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