Orcas

[EE_]

http://www.rense.com/1.imagesH/03orcas.jpg

West Coast orcas experiencing 100% infant mortality rate as radiation from Fukushima drifts across ocean
Thursday, January 29, 2015 by: Daniel Barker

(NaturalNews) Marine biologists and other researchers are voicing serious concerns regarding the high mortality rate among orcas (killer whales) observed over the past couple of years.

No one has yet proven that there is a direct link between the 100 percent mortality rate seen among orca infants and the effects of the radiation contamination of the Pacific Ocean from the Fukushima reactor leak in Japan, but it certainly can't be ruled out as a possibility.

It is rather interesting that the incidence of orca deaths -- not just of infants, but full-grown specimens as well -- has risen sharply since the accident occurred in 2011 and as the radiation has made its way across the Pacific Ocean to the West Coast of North America.

Scientists have also noticed odd behavior among orcas recently. Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard, senior marine mammal scientist at the Vancouver Aquarium, has been "sounding the alarm" over the unprecedented mortality rate and the changes in behavior seen in orca pods off the coast of Canada and Alaska.

Dr. Barrett-Lennard says that he and other scientists have noticed that the mammals have become strangely quiet over the past two summers. When teams went out to study the pods and record their vocalizations as part of their normal research routine, they were surprised at how little the cetaceans were communicating with each other:

They weren't vocalizing, and that was quite a striking change after years and years of being very familiar with how noisy they are and how easy to find acoustically.

He believes that "something is likely wrong with the ocean environment," as paraphrased by News1130.com, and that more research is needed to understand the reasons behind the high death rates and the behavioral changes recently observed by the scientists.

Aside from the 100 percent mortality rate among orca infants, many of the matriarchs are dying as well, leading some to speculate that the species may become extinct -- possibly within the next 20 years.

The recent discovery of a carcass off the coast of British Columbia -- that of a 19-year-old orca female, which was believed to be in the late stages of pregnancy, is just one example of the recent orca deaths that have scientists and conservationists worried.

Ken Balcomb, executive director of the Center For Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Washington, said:

Her death doesn't bode well for the southern resident population and certainly not for that matriline. Her mother died young. Her aunt had two sons and she's probably post-reproductive. She hasn't had any babies in the last 12 years. So there's no future.

Balcomb also remarked:

We haven't had any survivals in babies for a couple of years. We have had stillborns and newborns die and a number of whales that appear to be pregnant but didn't ultimately produce any calves. It's like zero survival in birth rate here.

Howard Garrett of Orca Network is another who is expressing deep concerns about the orca population living in the waters near Vancouver and Washington state:

Our hopes are just so fragile already. There was a calf born in early September that lived less than a month and that was the first calf in two years. The last calf that survived was August 2012. There should be two or three births at least per year just to hold steady. We like to see four or five per year. Instead, there have been seven mortalities and no births.

As mentioned above, there is no proven link between the Fukushima radiation leak and the high mortality rate among West Coast orcas, and many other sea animals, as of yet, and more research is needed to determine exactly what is killing the killer whales. And at this point, radiation poisoning can certainly not be ruled out.


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/048440_killer_whales_Fukushima_radiation_extinctio n.html##ixzz3UGkSvs67

[Ares]

Outside of a miracle from the creator or intervention from some other race in the universe the Pacific ocean is dying and I lay the blame squarely at the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

[Shami-Amourae]

100%? Seriously?

I call bullshit. This article discusses a recent birth of a baby orca.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/bigscience/2014/09/07/orca-baby-spotted-among-resident-puget-sound-killer-whales/#26539101=0&24619103=0&26269105=0
(http://blog.seattlepi.com/bigscience/2014/09/07/orca-baby-spotted-among-resident-puget-sound-killer-whales/#26539101=0&24619103=0&26269105=0)
This is just more Fukushima fear mongering. A lot of these alternative news media websites all mirror anothers' stories regardless of the facts. Yeah Fukushima is bad, but it's not destroying everything 100%, just making things more messed up.

[Ares]

100%? Seriously?

I call bullshit. This article discusses a recent birth of a baby orca.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/bigscience/2014/09/07/orca-baby-spotted-among-resident-puget-sound-killer-whales/#26539101=0&24619103=0&26269105=0
(http://blog.seattlepi.com/bigscience/2014/09/07/orca-baby-spotted-among-resident-puget-sound-killer-whales/#26539101=0&24619103=0&26269105=0)
This is just more Fukushima fear mongering. A lot of these alternative news media websites all mirror anothers' stories regardless of the facts. Yeah Fukushima is bad, but it's not destroying everything 100%, just making things more messed up.

So where is the baby then?

http://westseattleblog.com/2014/10/puget-sound-orcas-first-baby-in-2-years-missing-and-presumed-dead/

You can call it fear mongering but you can't honestly say the amount of radiation that was just dumped into the ocean isn't going to have any effect can you?

What about the thousands of sea lions dying because of the collapse in the Pacific ecosystem?

http://russgeorge.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/sealion_nursery1-470x260.jpg

http://russgeorge.net/2015/03/10/starving-sealions-perish-in-californias-dying-ocean/

This link also provides other alternative scenarios for the collapse in the Pacific oceans ecosystem outside of radiation.

[Hitch]

What about the thousands of sea lions dying because of the collapse in the Pacific ecosystem?.

What, these sea lions? They are actually quite happy and relaxed, and perfectly healthy. This is on the Pacific coast, taken firsthand a couple of weeks ago.

If sea lions were dying in mass quantities, it would be a local issue, not fuku which "affects" the whole coast. Another BS scare tactic.

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[EE_]

What, these sea lions? They are actually quite happy and relaxed, and perfectly healthy. This is on the Pacific coast, taken firsthand a couple of weeks ago.

If sea lions were dying in mass quantities, it would be a local issue, not fuku which "affects" the whole coast. Another BS scare tactic.

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Maybe it's the anti-nuclear people that are behind the scare?
I know you will let us know if you start seeing dying sea life.

This needs to be watched.

[Hitch]

I just took this picture a minute ago. Although it's a bad quality photo, you can see this animal is scratching himself on the neck with his flipper. I submit this as proof of fukushima, the fuku scratch.

I am going to write an article and post it on the internet. Thousands of sea lions on the pacific coast are scratching themselves because of fukushima

I've named this sea lion Scratch. I will be watching him and see how much longer he lives.

:rolleyes:

7416

[EE_]

I just took this picture a minute ago. Although it's a bad quality photo, you can see this animal is scratching himself on the neck with his flipper. I submit this as proof of fukushima, the fuku scratch.

I am going to write an article and post it on the internet. Thousands of sea lions on the pacific coast are scratching themselves because of fukushima

I've named this sea lion Scratch. I will be watching him and see how much longer he lives.

:rolleyes:

7416

Would you mind walking out on those docks to get a close inspection of each one, for any open sores? Go look and get back to us...


Maybe this is over-blown too?

NASA Scientist Warns "California Has One Year Of Water Left"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/13/2015 14:48 -0400

Authored by NASA Senior Water Scientist Jay Famiglietti, originally posted Op-Ed at The LA Times,

Given the historic low temperatures and snowfalls that pummeled the eastern U.S. this winter, it might be easy to overlook how devastating California's winter was as well.

As our “wet” season draws to a close, it is clear that the paltry rain and snowfall have done almost nothing to alleviate epic drought conditions. January was the driest in California since record-keeping began in 1895. Groundwater and snowpack levels are at all-time lows. We're not just up a creek without a paddle in California, we're losing the creek too.

Data from NASA satellites show that the total amount of water stored in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins — that is, all of the snow, river and reservoir water, water in soils and groundwater combined — was 34 million acre-feet below normal in 2014. That loss is nearly 1.5 times the capacity of Lake Mead, America's largest reservoir.

Statewide, we've been dropping more than 12 million acre-feet of total water yearly since 2011. Roughly two-thirds of these losses are attributable to groundwater pumping for agricultural irrigation in the Central Valley. Farmers have little choice but to pump more groundwater during droughts, especially when their surface water allocations have been slashed 80% to 100%. But these pumping rates are excessive and unsustainable. Wells are running dry. In some areas of the Central Valley, the land is sinking by one foot or more per year.

As difficult as it may be to face, the simple fact is that California is running out of water — and the problem started before our current drought. NASA data reveal that total water storage in California has been in steady decline since at least 2002, when satellite-based monitoring began, although groundwater depletion has been going on since the early 20th century.

Right now the state has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs, and our strategic backup supply, groundwater, is rapidly disappearing. California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one (let alone a 20-plus-year mega-drought), except, apparently, staying in emergency mode and praying for rain.

In short, we have no paddle to navigate this crisis.

Several steps need be taken right now.

First, immediate mandatory water rationing should be authorized across all of the state's water sectors, from domestic and municipal through agricultural and industrial. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is already considering water rationing by the summer unless conditions improve. There is no need for the rest of the state to hesitate. The public is ready. A recent Field Poll showed that 94% of Californians surveyed believe that the drought is serious, and that one-third support mandatory rationing.

Second, the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 should be accelerated. The law requires the formation of numerous, regional groundwater sustainability agencies by 2017. Then each agency must adopt a plan by 2022 and “achieve sustainability” 20 years after that. At that pace, it will be nearly 30 years before we even know what is working. By then, there may be no groundwater left to sustain.

Third, the state needs a task force of thought leaders that starts, right now, brainstorming to lay the groundwork for long-term water management strategies. Although several state task forces have been formed in response to the drought, none is focused on solving the long-term needs of a drought-prone, perennially water-stressed California.
Our state's water management is complex, but the technology and expertise exist to handle this harrowing future. It will require major changes in policy and infrastructure that could take decades to identify and act upon. Today, not tomorrow, is the time to begin.

Finally, the public must take ownership of this issue. This crisis belongs to all of us — not just to a handful of decision-makers. Water is our most important, commonly owned resource, but the public remains detached from discussions and decisions.

This process works just fine when water is in abundance. In times of crisis, however, we must demand that planning for California's water security be an honest, transparent and forward-looking process. Most important, we must make sure that there is in fact a plan.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-13/nasa-scientist-warns-california-has-one-year-water-left

[Hitch]

I know you will let us know if you start seeing dying sea life.

This needs to be watched.

I agree, needs to be watched. I will definitely let you all know if I see anything, but if what I observe and my opinion means anything, everything is thriving here where I am at.

I'm just not seeing anything firsthand to worry about, and it's been years since all the fear mongering has been going on.

[Dogman]

I agree, needs to be watched. I will definitely let you all know if I see anything, but if what I observe and my opinion means anything, everything is thriving here where I am at.

I'm just not seeing anything firsthand to worry about, and it's been years since all the fear mongering has been going on.

Yep!

Chernobyl in many many ways was much worse, but back then not much internet to blow things out of proportion!

IMO!

[Hitch]

Would you mind walking out on those docks to get a close inspection of each one, for any open sores? Go look and get back to us...


The first pic is about as close as I can get to them. The second pic is the one that sank my kayak. I know these pics are reposts from another thread, but look at how healthy they look.

Their coats are full and shiny, they are fat and happy...and easily agitated too, like they normally are.

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[Dogman]

The first pic is about as close as I can get to them. The second pic is the one that sank my kayak. I know these pics are reposts from another thread, but look at how healthy they look.

Their coats are full and shiny, they are fat and happy...and easily agitated too, like they normally are.

<img src="http://gold-silver.us/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7417"/>

<img src="http://gold-silver.us/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7418"/>

Non discriminating don't care, do not mess with me , take on everyone guard seals!

Thanks for or where is the fish!

;)

[EE_]

The first pic is about as close as I can get to them. The second pic is the one that sank my kayak. I know these pics are reposts from another thread, but look at how healthy they look.

Their coats are full and shiny, they are fat and happy...and easily agitated too, like they normally are.

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I was only kidding about walking up on those killer creatures :) I wouldn't get to close to them.

[Hitch]

I was only kidding about walking up on those killer creatures :) I wouldn't get to close to them.

I know my friend. Sadly, there is a problem with the sea lions here I've just learned. I found this malnourished pup dying on the dock a little bit ago. I reported her to the office, and this is what I've learned.

The marine mammal rescue center is overflowing with young pups, more than they can handle. Because of el nino, the mothers are abandoning a lot of their pups. What's happening, is that the mothers have to go far out to sea for food, and if the little ones can't keep up, the mothers face a choice, either their survival or the pups.

Not sure if this pup will be saved, unfortunately, but she's been reported. Warning, sad photo to look at.

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[Dogman]

I know my friend. Sadly, there is a problem with the sea lions here I've just learned. I found this malnourished pup dying on the dock a little bit ago. I reported her to the office, and this is what I've learned.

The marine mammal rescue center is overflowing with young pups, more than they can handle. Because of el nino, the mothers are abandoning a lot of their pups. What's happening, is that the mothers have to go far out to sea for food, and if the little ones can't keep up, the mothers face a choice, either their survival or the pups.

Not sure if this pup will be saved, unfortunately, but she's been reported.

<img src="http://gold-silver.us/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7419"/>

<img src="http://gold-silver.us/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7420"/>

Screwed up weather and or over commercial fishing depleting the ocean of critters that have commercial use.

Not radiation!

[mick silver]

cook it up hitch . looks like a free dinner on the grill to me ............ nothing should go to waste right ponce

[Dogman]

cook it up hitch . looks like a free dinner on the grill to me ............ nothing should go to waste right ponce

Ponce should chime in!

Bet he uses his tp multiple times in different ways and not single use!

Waste not want not!

;)

[Hitch]

Screwed up weather and or over commercial fishing depleting the ocean of critters that have commercial use.

Not radiation!

I agree, not radiation, but weather. Also, commercial fishing actually helps the sea lions, especially during salmon season. The boats hook the fish, then the sea lion steals it before the fisherman can get the fish into the boat. It makes it easier hunting for the lion. As one fisherman told me, the "sea lions always win". :)

[Shami-Amourae]

So where is the baby then?

Hitch is on the sea all the time. I'd consider him a primary source of information.

There's an agenda to over represent the danger of Fukushima and it's negative effect on the Ocean. Be careful okay. There are people who eat this stuff up since it's from alternative sources. Alternative news sites can be just as bunk as mainstream these days. There's a ton of disinfo out there that is used to try to discredit the movement.

The state of the Ocean is bad, but it's not going extinct. It's still got a ways to go for that.

[slvrbugjim]

....................

"The Implications of Massive Radiation Contamination of Japan with Radioactive Cesium"
HD, 21 min 10 sec, in English

Steven Starr
Senior Scientist, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Clinical Laboratory Science Program Director, University of Missouri


Helen Caldicott Foundation
"Symposium"
The Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident
Co-Sponsored by Physicians for Social Responsibility
March 11th & 12th, 2013


New York City
http://www.nuclearfreeplanet.org/symp... (http://www.nuclearfreeplanet.org/symposium.html)

All other footages at the Symposium is here:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=... (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_AtK2ExI6YXqNA4b6L0EwqPsYiNAIU5x)

No-Commercial videos are available at Vimeo.
https://vimeo.com/album/2366337

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDgnBqBJZNc

[Horn]

Not sure if this pup will be saved, unfortunately, but she's been reported.

Try giving him some bait? Bet that would save him for a little while.

[Shami-Amourae]

5000 species all missing from tidal pools all gone or dead

Published on Aug 18, 2014

This video features highlights of Dana Durnford & Terry Daniel's video Podcast. Very special thanks to Dana & his team for all the hard word and research they have gathered concerning Fukushima radiation and the dying Pacific Ocean. Without individuals such as Dana stepping up to get us the real data in the field, much of this type of information would not be available to the general public.

See the entire original 75 minute presentation here -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1Frs... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1FrscZBjhc&feature=youtu.be)
and hundreds of additional slides at TheNuclearProctologist.com


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eku4X1-NrkA

I posted that last August, and then later realized it was bunk and posted videos that disproved it:
http://gold-silver.us/forum/showthread.php?78718-HORROR-Pacific-Ocean-Now-Dead-From-Fukushima-Radiation

Hot chick from the same area as Dana disproves the entire thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWhgi5VLJ_w

[slvrbugjim]

I posted that last August, and then later realized it was bunk and posted videos that disproved it:
http://gold-silver.us/forum/showthread.php?78718-HORROR-Pacific-Ocean-Now-Dead-From-Fukushima-Radiation

Hot chick from the same area as Dana disproves the entire thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWhgi5VLJ_w

Ok so you are saying Dana was doing all of this for 9 weeks as a spoof as a joke just to throw off some people on jewtube? I do not buy that either. Did this girl go to the exact places in BC that Dana did? This is my first question where is half moon bay California, BC where is this place?

So Dana is conducting a complete scam then?? I guess it could be. If so then to what end

Edit I see Half Moon Bay here in BC
http://www.loghouse-halfmoonbay.com/location.html

Looks like an area Dana would have tried to go to. Yea so this smells once again of a fishy story on Rense. So the fear mongering is just a stunt then. Well knock me over with a feather thanks.

[Shami-Amourae]

Ok so you are saying Dana was doing all of this for 9 weeks as a spoof as a joke just to throw off some people on jewtube?

Because he's an unemployed con-artist who is fooling people into sending him money so he can go on "expeditions".

Send Dana your monies:
https://secure.squarespace.com/commerce/donate?donatePageId=5411b543e4b06e9036ec17b4


There's tons of threads on Lunatic Outpost debunking Dana. Research this stuff yourself.
http://lunaticoutpost.com/showthread.php?tid=461926&page=5

The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) have been notified.

Cheque 046 cashed: paid to the order of Mr. Kevin Blanch - $10,000 dated 23-Jun-14 (Memo: No regrets!)

Cheque 047 cashed: paid to the order of Mr. Thomas Ackermann - $2,200 dated 25-Jun-14 (Memo: Calgary Salt Summit 2014)

Cheque 048 cashed: paid to the order of Mr. Kevin Blanch - $5,000 – dated 03-Jul-14

Cheque 051 cashed: paid to Mr. Dana Durnford - $1,000 – dated 12-Aug-14 (Memo: West Coast BC Trip)

Cheque 052 cashed: paid to the order of Mr. Dana Durford - $500 – dated 18-Aug-14

Line of Credit Withdrawal - $16,567 Canadian Inflatables Inc. (Marine Traders, Jim Coulton, Powell River)

...Geoff....gave $35,267.

And..., he did not have this money to give.
It is now DEBT.
The offer to return the funds is appreciated; let me know how this can be arranged. There is a son’s future that hangs in the balance of this deception.



Claire, the woman in the video I posted actually lives on the Sunshine Coast. She had a video I watched where she showed pictures from her childhood and how nothing changed but the video is gone for some reason. Maybe she was afraid since she revealed a lot of personal information, I don't know.
http://www.sunshinecoasteh.com/maps/sunshine1.gif

Another one of Claire's videos so you can get an idea for where she is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00oK6Ochtj4

[Dogman]

Because he's an unemployed con-artist who is fooling people into sending him money so he can go on "expeditions".

Send Dana your monies:
https://secure.squarespace.com/commerce/donate?donatePageId=5411b543e4b06e9036ec17b4


There's tons of threads on Lunatic Outpost debunking Dana. Research this stuff yourself.
http://lunaticoutpost.com/showthread.php?tid=461926&page=5




Claire, the woman in the video I posted actually lives on the Sunshine Coast. She had a video I watched where she showed pictures from her childhood and how nothing changed but the video is gone for some reason. May she was afraid since she revealed a lot of personal information, I don't know.
http://www.sunshinecoasteh.com/maps/sunshine1.gif

Another one of Claire's videos so you can get an idea for where she is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00oK6Ochtj4

Yep !

Sounds like he is being investigated by the RMP for fraud.


https://www.google.com/search?q=Dana+Durnford+%26+Terry+Daniel%27s&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=dana+durnford+fraud+investigation+royal+canadi an+mounted+police


https://www.google.com/search?q=Dana+Durnford+%26+Terry+Daniel%27s&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=Dana+Durnford++scams

[slvrbugjim]

Hmm what do you think about this guy

"Have you heard the idea nuclear bombs are a myth?" 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKwcqUMCvEQ

[slvrbugjim]

Yep !

Sounds like he is being investigated by the RMP for fraud.


https://www.google.com/search?q=Dana+Durnford+%26+Terry+Daniel%27s&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=dana+durnford+fraud+investigation+royal+canadi an+mounted+police


https://www.google.com/search?q=Dana+Durnford+%26+Terry+Daniel%27s&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=Dana+Durnford++scams

What really pisses me off is that Rense has to be in on it as well. When he got into it with Jim Stone over Fukashima I thought something was off as well

[EE_]

California's Latest Wave of Migrants - Hundreds of Sea Lions Wash Ashore
© Flickr/ Michael R Perry US
14:24 14.03.2015(updated 14:33 14.03.2015)

Rising ocean temperatures are blamed for changing the habitat of sea lions, more than 1,200 of whom have been found, starving and disorientated along California's beaches this year.

Weather patterns which have warmed the Pacific Ocean habitat of sea lions are being blamed for a five-fold increase in the number of pups being washed up on beaches along its eastern shore, compared to the around 225 strandings that officials would expect to see between January and April.

In early March, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] claimed that more than 1,200 California sea lions had been admitted to rehabilitation facilities across the state, while the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito said it has more of the animals at its hospital than ever before.

Last week it was announced that zoological employees from several animal parks in California had joined the effort to rescue and rehabilitate the pups, and the Sea World parks in San Diego and Texas have suspended their sea lion shows so that trainers could join the teams tending to the stricken animals. Sea World also said that it was in the process of constructing two temporary pools for the rescued sea lions.

"Each animal rescued is a puzzle piece to give us big-picture information on what’s happening in the marine environment and throughout the West Coast," said Justin Viezbicke, California’s Stranding Network Coordinator for NOAA Fisheries.

Experts from NOAA believe that the disturbing phenomenon is related to large swaths of warm water in the Pacific, caused by unusually weak winds from the north and strong winds from the south. According to NOAA climatologist Nate Mantua, some areas of the Pacific are two to five degrees Fahrenheit (3.6 to 9 °C) warmer than usual for this time of year, some of the warmest temperatures seen in history.

The resulting change in currents has led to a decline in the amount of cold water and fish, which usually come to the surface, making prey more plentiful and accessible. The mothers of the pups nurse their offspring on colonies off the coast of California for almost a year, but due to the lack of food, they have to travel further to find prey and leave their offspring for longer periods without sustenance. As a result, the pups are being forced to leave the colony to look for food themselves, before they are capable of being out on their own.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/us/20150314/1019489585.html#ixzz3UPJdBGBY

Starving Sea Lions Washing Ashore by the Hundreds in California
By JACK HEALYMARCH 12, 2015

Rescued sea lions recuperated at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, Calif., last month. In a normal January, animal rescuers will find about 20 to 40 stranded sea lions. This year, they reported 250. Credit Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times

CAPISTRANO BEACH, Calif. — By the time Wendy Leeds reached him, the sea lion pup had little hope of surviving.

Like more than 1,450 other sea lions that have washed up on California beaches this year, in what animal experts call a growing crisis for the animal, this 8-month-old pup was starving, stranded and hundreds of miles from a mother who still needed to nurse him and teach him to hunt and feed. Ribs jutted from his velveteen coat.

The pup had lain on the beach for hours, becoming the target of an aggressive dog before managing to wriggle onto the deck of a million-dollar oceanfront home, where the owner shielded him with an umbrella and called animal control. In came Ms. Leeds, an animal-care expert at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, which like other California rescue centers is being inundated with calls about lost, emaciated sea lions.

“It’s getting crazy,” she said.

Experts suspect that unusually warm waters are driving fish and other food away from the coastal islands where sea lions breed and wean their young. As the mothers spend time away from the islands hunting for food, hundreds of starving pups are swimming away from home and flopping ashore from San Diego to San Francisco.

An epidemic of starvation struck Southern California’s baby sea lions in 2013. Although some have died, the Pacific Marine Mammal Center is nursing many of them back to health. Video by Erik Olsen on Publish Date May 13, 2013.
Many of the pups are leaving the Channel Islands, an eight-island chain off the Southern California coast, in a desperate search for food. But they are too young to travel far, dive deep or truly hunt on their own, scientists said.

This year, animal rescuers are reporting five times more sea lion rescues than normal — 1,100 last month alone. The pups are turning up under fishing piers and in backyards, along inlets and on rocky cliffs. One was found curled up in a flower pot.

Last week, SeaWorld San Diego said it would shut its live sea lion and otter show for two weeks so it could spare six of its animal specialists for the rescue-and-recovery effort.

“There are so many calls, we just can’t respond to them all,” Justin Viezbicke, who oversees stranding issues in California for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said on a conference call with reporters. “The reality is, we just can’t get to these animals.”

As the injured animals proliferate, their encounters with humans are growing. Some people offer misguided help such as dousing the pups with water or trying to drag them back into the ocean. Others take selfies with the stranded animals, pet them or let their children pretend to ride them, rescuers said.

As Ms. Leeds approached the quaking sea lion on Capistrano Beach, she frowned at a pile of tuna near his muzzle. “Has someone been trying to feed him?” she asked.

Many are sick with pneumonia, their throaty barks muted to rasping coughs. Parasites have swarmed their digestive systems. Some are so tired that they cannot scamper away when rescuers approach them with nets and towels and heft them into large pet carriers.

“They come ashore because if they didn’t, they would drown,” said Shawn Johnson, the director of veterinary science at Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. “They’re just bones and skin. They’re really on the brink of death.”

This year is the third in five years that scientists have seen such large numbers of strandings. Researchers say they worry about the long-term consequences of climate change and rising ocean temperatures on a sea lion population that has evolved over thousands of years to breed almost exclusively on the Channel Islands, relying on circulating flows of Pacific upwellings to bring anchovies, sardines and other prey.

“The environment is changing too rapidly,” said Sharon Melin, a wildlife biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service who found that pups on the Channel Islands were 44 percent underweight. “Their life history is so much slower that it’s not keeping up.”

Scientists said it was too soon to predict how these strandings and deaths could affect California’s sea lion populations, which stand at what scientists say is a healthy 300,000. As their mothers leave them to take longer, less productive foraging trips, the pups are simply not growing normally.

“We do expect the population to take a drop,” Dr. Melin said. “Probably not something catastrophic, but probably a really good hit. It is going to impact the overall population eventually if we continue to have these events back to back.”

For now, rescue and rehabilitation groups like Pacific Marine Mammal Center, in Laguna Beach, have the feel of big-city emergency rooms. Volunteers and staff members pull up with crates of freshly beached sea lions to be weighed and examined. They shave numbers into the animals’ brown coats, warm the coldest ones in saltwater baths, and try to coax them back to health with smoothies of herring, Karo syrup, Trader Joe’s brand salmon oil and other nutrients.

Many have rebounded, gaining weight and graduating from indoor holding pens and tube feedings to eating small fish and romping in outdoor pools. The gaunt new arrivals lie forlornly inside, lethargic and scrawny. The recovering ones loll outside like sunbathers on a crowded roof deck, rolling around in hose spray and occasionally flapping around the small pools in their pens. After four or five weeks, many should be ready to be released back into the ocean.

But the death rates are sobering, and staff members say they have to make quick and sometimes painful decisions to euthanize animals unlikely to survive. Of the 1,450 sea lions scooped up from the shores, about 720 are now being treated, Dr. Viezbicke of NOAA said.

Michele Hunter, the center’s director of animal care, said, “It’s very difficult to see so much death.”

On Capistrano Beach, Ms. Leeds hauled the quaking sea lion into a kennel, accepted a $20 donation from the homeowner who had called in the report and headed down the highway to a fishing pier where a lifeguard had spotted another pup in the sand.

This one was small and cool to her touch with ragged, unsteady breathing, so she piled both animals into the same kennel so they could keep each other warm. They seemed to bond quickly: When Ms. Leeds reached toward one, the other snapped at her hand. Within the hour, veterinary workers would decide that both pups were too starved and sick and had to be put down. For the moment, the two curled up together like a pair of brown socks for the ride back to the rescue center.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/13/us/starving-sea-lions-washing-ashore-by-the-hundreds-in-california.html?&_r=0

[Cebu_4_2]

Hmm what do you think about this guy
"Have you heard the idea nuclear bombs are a myth?" 2014

Yep, believe it too. What I can't get around is the big bomb videos (films). Look pretty productive especially the Bikini Islands. Could be done without nukes for sure.