The Watchers - 19 March 2013 - NIX
A worrying large number of dehydrated and emaciated sea lions are washing ashore Central and Southern Californian coastline from Santa Barbara to San Diego. Hundreds of these sick sea lion have been admitted to rescue centers so far and rescue groups are reporting substantial spike in number of these malnourished sea lions since January in comparison to previous years count during same period. Sharon Melin, a wildlife biologist with the National Fisheries Service told Wired,
“We’re in the process of trying to understand what is actually causing this. The stranding centers in Southern California are being inundated with animals. It hasn’t hit the northern centers yet.”
Most of sea lions are identified as pups – about 9 months – and should weigh between 25 and 30 kilograms. Whereas, these pups are about half of that and are not gaining weight, Melin found in her observations. Regional strandings coordinator with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Sarah Wilkin noted that, as of March 13th, 517 pups had been admitted to 5 Southern Californian rescue centers, a total higher than some of the entire years and yet, the pace of admissions is still accelerating. Most of these stranded pups were found in areas near Channel Islands – the known breeding haven of sea lions.
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Comments
Those rescueers are apart of
Those rescueers are apart of my ground crew, or at least I consider them a good eample of one of my crew members would be like.
Thank you very much Odi for sharing and letting me.
Love I AM NaGeeTa