EE_
5th October 2015, 07:01 PM
In the MSM
By MICHAEL CASEY CBS NEWS September 29, 2015, 3:22 PM
Strange spike in fur seal deaths on California coast
A Guadalupe fur seal with a flipper tag. NOAA NATIONAL MARINE MAMMAL LABORATORY
Federal officials are trying to understand what is behind a sharp rise in the stranding and deaths of threatened fur seals, with dozens washing up along the California coast this year.
Designating it an Unusual Mortality Event, NOAA Fisheries said that as many as 80 Guadalupe fur seals have appeared on shore, about half of them dead and the other half starving. That is eight times more than normal. The "unusual mortality" designation allows for additional funding and international scientists to be directed to examine the problem.
"We are significantly higher than what we would normally expect here in California," said Justin Viezbicke, the NOAA Fisheries Stranding Coordinator for the West Coast region, of the strandings that averaged under 10 a year from 2009 to 2014 and about 12 animals per year over the past three decades.
Many of the fur seals, which breed almost entirely on Guadalupe Island off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, have been turning up emaciated but scientists can't say exactly why. Hunting brought the species to near extinction in the late 1800s, but it is slowly recovering. The species current population is estimated at more than 10,000 animals.
One theory for the strandings is that waters in the Pacific Ocean off of California have warmed over the past two years, pushing the fish they feed upon further north.
"The conditions in the Pacific Ocean have been anomalous for almost two years now," Toby Garfield, director environmental research division at the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, said, referring to a warm patch of water known as the blob that formed in the Gulf of Alaska and a high pressure ridge that has kept winter storms further north towards Washington and Canada.
"The result of that is we have seen some real species changes, especially with a lot of the forage fish that fur seals and sea lions would be feasting on if you will," Garfield said.
Garfield said he expected the warming conditions would persist for a few more months.
Complicating the picture is the arrival of one of the strongest El Ninos on record later this year, which is expected to bring frequent and intense storms to California, along with an increase in tropical cyclones in the Pacific and heavy rainfall and snowfall.
The surge in fur seals deaths follows several months in which more than 1,000 starving sea lions were turning up along the California coast.
While both species were found emaciated, NOAA officials said they couldn't say for sure where they are being impacted by the same conditions.
"They are in the ocean and sharing the same space so there is always that possibility that they are connected," Viezbicke said. "But because they are such different species and they do have different ranges and some different foraging that we noted, there is enough difference to separate them. But being in the same type of conditions, that potentially is playing into this for both of them absolutely."
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/noaa-warns-of-spike-in-threatened-fur-seal-deaths/
The rest...
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.
By MICHAEL CASEY CBS NEWS September 29, 2015, 3:22 PM
Strange spike in fur seal deaths on California coast
A Guadalupe fur seal with a flipper tag. NOAA NATIONAL MARINE MAMMAL LABORATORY
Federal officials are trying to understand what is behind a sharp rise in the stranding and deaths of threatened fur seals, with dozens washing up along the California coast this year.
Designating it an Unusual Mortality Event, NOAA Fisheries said that as many as 80 Guadalupe fur seals have appeared on shore, about half of them dead and the other half starving. That is eight times more than normal. The "unusual mortality" designation allows for additional funding and international scientists to be directed to examine the problem.
"We are significantly higher than what we would normally expect here in California," said Justin Viezbicke, the NOAA Fisheries Stranding Coordinator for the West Coast region, of the strandings that averaged under 10 a year from 2009 to 2014 and about 12 animals per year over the past three decades.
Many of the fur seals, which breed almost entirely on Guadalupe Island off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, have been turning up emaciated but scientists can't say exactly why. Hunting brought the species to near extinction in the late 1800s, but it is slowly recovering. The species current population is estimated at more than 10,000 animals.
One theory for the strandings is that waters in the Pacific Ocean off of California have warmed over the past two years, pushing the fish they feed upon further north.
"The conditions in the Pacific Ocean have been anomalous for almost two years now," Toby Garfield, director environmental research division at the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, said, referring to a warm patch of water known as the blob that formed in the Gulf of Alaska and a high pressure ridge that has kept winter storms further north towards Washington and Canada.
"The result of that is we have seen some real species changes, especially with a lot of the forage fish that fur seals and sea lions would be feasting on if you will," Garfield said.
Garfield said he expected the warming conditions would persist for a few more months.
Complicating the picture is the arrival of one of the strongest El Ninos on record later this year, which is expected to bring frequent and intense storms to California, along with an increase in tropical cyclones in the Pacific and heavy rainfall and snowfall.
The surge in fur seals deaths follows several months in which more than 1,000 starving sea lions were turning up along the California coast.
While both species were found emaciated, NOAA officials said they couldn't say for sure where they are being impacted by the same conditions.
"They are in the ocean and sharing the same space so there is always that possibility that they are connected," Viezbicke said. "But because they are such different species and they do have different ranges and some different foraging that we noted, there is enough difference to separate them. But being in the same type of conditions, that potentially is playing into this for both of them absolutely."
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/noaa-warns-of-spike-in-threatened-fur-seal-deaths/
The rest...
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.