Good news, sorta.
Researchers who discovered an abnormal amount of dead baby sea lions on one of their Channel Island breeding grounds say the trend has not continued.
Scientists raised alarm when they spotted hundreds of dead pups on Año Nuevo Island which looked like they were stillborn, premature or malnourished. The corpses were tested for bird flu and toxic red tide to determine whether the deaths signaled something more ominous.
But, Patrick Robinson, director of the Año Nuevo Reserve, told Voice of San Diego Thursday that the number of still-born pups has since “dropped to very low levels.”
“We are seeing a normal number of healthy live births and mother-pup pairs,” Robinson wrote in an email.
So far, tests on the deceased pups for bird flu, or H5N1, came back negative, Robinson said.
“We don’t know for sure what caused the event. It was a noteworthy event, but relatively short-lived,” Robinson wrote.
Michael Milstein, a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said surveys of California sea lion rookeries showed an average number of pups in good health.
“Researchers counted only about 100 dead pups in the main sea lion rookery on San Miguel Island, which is less than 1 percent of the approximately 13,000 pups born in the rookery in a normal year,” Milstein wrote in an email.
Ten to 15 percent of sea lion pups born each year die on average in nature.
A note from NOAA if you see a sick marine animal: The West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network is prepared to respond to strandings as the summer season approaches. Please report stranded marine mammals by calling 1-866-767-6114.