Since January 2015, around 80 Guadalupe fur seals have been found stranded on central California shores. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the occurrence as an "unusual mortality event" that requires immediate attention as it could lead to the species' population death.
The stranding rate is eight times more than usual. In the past two decades, there have only been 10 to 12 strandings annually. In the 2015 stranding statistics, 42 fur seals were found dead. Thirty-eight fur seals were alive when they were discovered, but only 11 survived. The survivors were rehabilitated and eventually released.
Tenaya Norris, a marine scientist working for The Marine Mammal Center, explained that most of the stranded Guadalupe fur seals are pups born in 2014. All of the 80 stranded seals were extremely thin.
In the past two years, the eastern Pacific has been experiencing an unusually warm weather. NOAA scientists believe that the Guadalupe fur seal's mortality event is connected to the warmer climate, said Toby Garfield, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center environmental research director. The warming waters prompted some of the fish species to swim north, lessening the Guadalupe's food source.
In 2013, NOAA pronounced the same event for California sea lions. While the two species do not have the same lifestyles, scientists claim that the same warming conditions have affected their source and abundance of food. This kind of fur seal is almost exclusive to the Guadalupe Island in Mexico, their main breeding ground. Past commercial hunting activities also hurt the Guadalupe fur seals' population. There are only about 15,000 left, officials said.
"We think that warm water conditions have really changed the range of quite a few of the forage fish species that the fur seals would be going after," added Garfield.
NOAA Fisheries Stranding Coordinator for the West Coast Region Justin Viezbicke announced that no additional protection will be issued but more attention will be given to monitor the species in the succeeding months.
The Guadalupe fur seals remain under threat. NOAA continues to work with experts nationwide to solve the underlying crisis, including the species' rehabilitation. NOAA is currently working in tandem with the Marine Mammal Center and Sea World for the rehabilitation of the stranded Guadalupe fur seals.
