ENE News Update 10/7

Time: Bizarre die-off along West Coast “an animal emergency” — Reuters: Record number of deaths declared Unusual Mortality Event by gov’t — Babies being found severely emaciated, sickened by parasites — Experts: “A big warning sign… this is just the tip of the iceberg” (VIDEO)

Published: October 5th, 2015 at 4:54 pm ET By ENENews  Email Article 103 comments

CBS News, Sep 29, 2015 (emphasis added): Strange spike in fur seal deaths on California coast — Federal officials are trying to understand what is behind a sharp rise in the stranding and deaths of threatened fur seals… “We are significantly higher than what we would normally expect here in California,” said Justin Viezbicke, the NOAA Fisheries Stranding Coordinator… The surge in fur seals deaths follows several months in which [thousands of] starving sea lions were turning up along the California coast.
Time, Oct 3, 2015: Especially alarming for marine biologists is that, unlike sea lion pups that are experiencing their own bizarre strandings, the Guadalupe fur seals are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, with some 15,000 estimated to exist in the world. “This is an alarm bell ringing,” says the Marine Mammal Center’s Jeff Boehm… When the pups arrived, they’re often starved nearly to death, some with organs and critical systems on the verge of shutting down… Like an animal emergency, the UME declaration allows NOAA to dedicate more resources to trying to figure out why…
KSRO, Sep 30, 2015: An unusually high number of Guadalupe fur seals washing up… is prompting scientists to declare an emergency.
LA Times, Oct 1, 2015: Guadalupe fur seals are washing up sick and dead at alarming rates along the California coast this year, prompting [NOAA] to declare an “unusual mortality event” for the animals… most of the seals found alive were severely emaciated… “They’re young animals, and they’re coming in starving to death,” Viezbicke said Thursday…
UPI, Oct 1, 2015: [It's a] significant jump — more than 800 percent — in fur seal deaths… “Increased strandings of Guadalupe fur seals have occurred along the entire coast of California,” NOAA announced… most [are] starved and some sickened by parasites. Researchers worry that the stranded animals may not represent the full extent of the damage.
Reuters, Sep 30, 2015: Record number of threatened seals stranded along California — Guadalupe fur seals… have washed up dead and dying in record numbers.
Washington Post, Sep 29, 2015: Scientists raise the alarm over ‘unusual’ fur seal deaths… The die-off could be a big problem for the Guadalupe fur seal… Viezbicke cautioned that there are probably more suffering individuals out at sea that just haven’t been observed.
AP, Sep 29, 2015: Guadalupe fur seals are stranding themselves and dying in alarming numbers… The spike “demands immediate response”… Viezbicke said.
Christian Science Monitor, Sep 30, 2015: NOAA has found stranded seals before, but the numbers this year are alarming by comparison… “It’s actually a big warning sign that we need to pay attention to what’s happening in our oceans,” Tenaya Norris, a scientist at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito where the seals were rehabilitated, said in a statement. “These stranded animals are just the tip of the iceberg”…
KRON, Sep 30, 2015: … the magnitude of this crisis is straining resources…
Press Democrat, Sep 29, 2015: Scientists raise alarm over large number of Guadalupe fur seal deaths… strandings raise another ocean alarm… [Officials] declared that an alarming eight-month die-off of Guadalupe fur seals calls for more in-depth study… the strandings are a dire sign of trend that is probably worse than currently known, experts said.
From June: Alarm on West Coast over unprecedented die-off of fur seals — Experts scrambling to deal with latest wildlife crisis in Pacific — Official: “What’s going to happen next?” (VIDEO)

Watch KRON’s broadcast here | NOAA conference call here