{"id":1923,"date":"2009-07-02T10:09:09","date_gmt":"2009-07-02T18:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?p=1923"},"modified":"2018-02-02T20:47:24","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T20:47:24","slug":"starving-sea-lions-a-climate-connection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/07\/02\/starving-sea-lions-a-climate-connection\/","title":{"rendered":"Starving Sea Lions: A Climate Connection?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Photos by Victoria Carpenter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I thought the highlight of my trip to Point Reyes<\/a> last week would be the cows grazing on spectacular cliffs covered with yellow lupine. I was visiting a historic dairy there for an upcoming story on crashing milk prices.<\/p>\n

But then I noticed a white van marked \u201crescue\u201d driving down to a dock near the Pt. Reyes lighthouse, and decided to follow it. Turns out, I stumbled upon an incredible scene: rescue workers releasing baby sea lions and elephant seal pups back into the waves.<\/p>\n

Volunteers lugged what looked like over-sized pet carriers out of the van and slid them onto a cement boat dock. Then a trio of sea lion pups poked their heads out, sniffed the salt air, and flippered their way across the cement and into the water, playfully nuzzling each other.<\/p>\n

They seemed exhilarated–but thin. These pups had been rescued near Monterey, revived in the Marine Mammal Center\u2019s Sausalito hospital<\/a>, and were now healthy enough to return to the ocean, though you could still see their rib cages poking through their fur.<\/p>\n

The sea lions swam out quickly but the elephant seals were a little more sluggish. One pup kept swimming back toward the humans, begging for fish. Then a giant female came out of the waves, perhaps offering herself as an adoptive mom, nudging the baby into the water.<\/p>\n

Jim Oswald of the Marine Mammal Center<\/a> (MMC) says the staff is seeing an unprecedented spike in rescue calls. In just the first two weeks of June, nearly 1,300 people phoned in, worried about stranded sea lions and other mammals. Most of them are malnourished sea lions who can\u2019t seem to find enough anchovies, herring, or sardines to snack on.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Researchers aren\u2019t quite sure why–but haven’t ruled out some kind of climate connection. The MMC is reporting its findings to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to try and figure out the cause. Possible El Nino Conditions? Warming oceans sending schools of smaller fish northwards? No one quite knows at this point.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s a climate change variable, that\u2019s going to affect the fish the animals feed on,” says NOAA Wildlife Biologist\u00a0 Joe Cordaro. “That could be a very long temporary shift in the bait fish distribution, or it could be long-term depending on how severely climate change affects the surface temperature of the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Cordaro says at this point, the sea lion strandings are \u201cone big puzzle,\u201d with climate change as just one possible factor. We could simply be witnessing a high-birth year for sea lions, with\u00a0 a lot more pups than usual, or early signs of a returning El Nino weather pattern<\/a>. Meteorologists won\u2019t know until the fall whether California actually meets the criteria for a strong El Nino year. If so, Cordaro predicts \u201cthings are going to get a lot worse for the sea lions this fall and next spring.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Editor’s Note: The case for a return to El Nino was advanced on Wednesday, when the Australian Bureau of Meteorology reported<\/a> that indications<\/a> are almost certain at this point]<\/em><\/p>\n

Regardless of the cause, the MMC’s Oswald says it’s cause for concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese young sea lion pups get to the point where they\u2019re so weak, they end up on the land and they\u2019re too weak to go back,\u201d Oswald explains. \u201cIt\u2019s easier for them to waddle along, hoping they\u2019ll find another waterway where they can find some food. They\u2019re using up all their reserves if they stay out in the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stranded sea lion pups have even turned up on Bay Area freeways. Last week, rescuers found one on the 880 freeway in Oakland.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis name is Fruitvale,\u201d reports Oswald, \u201cfor the district in Oakland he was rescued from. He seems to be doing okay. He\u2019s still being tube fed. I\u2019m told from veterinarians that he\u2019s feisty, moving around, and nippy, which is a good sign.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Marine Mammal Center\u2019s Sausalito headquarters lets visitors watch volunteers in action. There\u2019s an interactive exhibit with a sea lion on a gurney, where you can see its x-rays and test results. You can watch volunteers prepare fish meal, or even witness a post-mortem in the necropsy room.<\/p>\n

Sounds grim, but until sea lion pups start finding more fish to eat–and humans start to figure out what\u2019s causing the food chain to collapse, the Marine Mammal Rescue Squad plans on a very busy summer.
\n\"\"
\nSasha Khokha is chief of KQED’s Central Valley Bureau and a frequent contributor to Climate Watch.<\/em><\/p>\n

And for more about the Marine Mammal Center’s sea lion rescue efforts, listen to <\/em>Amy Standen’s recent\u00a0radio report <\/em><\/a>on KQED’s Quest. You can also view <\/em>her slideshow<\/em><\/a> and read <\/em>her Reporter’s Notes<\/em><\/a> on the Quest blog.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A rescue center is overwhelmed with emaciated sea lion pups. Is it another El Nino signal or a manifestation of longer-term climate trends?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":254,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[181,184,348,401,677],"coauthors":[],"series":[],"affiliates":[],"programs":[],"collections":[],"interests":[],"class_list":["post-1923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thescience","tag-ecosystems","tag-el-nino","tag-marine-mammal","tag-oceans","tag-wildlife"],"acf":{"template_type":"standard","featured_image_type":"standard","is_audio_post":false},"yoast_head":"\nStarving Sea Lions: A Climate Connection? | Climate Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/07\/02\/starving-sea-lions-a-climate-connection\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Starving Sea Lions: A Climate Connection? | Climate Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A rescue center is overwhelmed with emaciated sea lion pups. 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