Hundreds of Sick Sea Lion Pups Wash Ashore

Could this have to do with slow radiation spreading with the currents form japan? Animals always seem to know and react to thing that are wrong in nature way before humans ever figure it out! 

Guys, take off the tinfoil hats.

It more likely has to do with the scraping of the oceans by human commercial fishing. When ecosystems are severely disrupted by removal of species, they NEVER return in exactly the same fashion .

When older temps allow more oxygen in the sea, phytoplankton bloom, zooplankton thrive, and so on up the line. BUT...if fish are so depleted, other organisms, such as quick-reproducing jellyfish and squid (I've seen Humboldt squid here on NorPac shores, this decade, where they were not known), replace them, creating entirely different food chains.

When such things happen, predators can be left behind.

Yes, the PDO and Ninos have cyclic effects, but look to acidifying oceans, swept clean of fish to feed domestic animals, fish farms, humans, for significant unprecedented factors. Don't eat farmed fish, and avoid buying any commercial fish. Even cattle have fish meal in feedlot diets, as well as poultry.

To whom it may concern,

Would Japan's nuclear problems have anything to do with this?

I hope they find out whats causing their sickness. The poor things.

why would people want to send them back into the sea? they're so cute. if you realize that there is a sick animal, you don't chase it away or just leave it there. 

I heard a report this morning on CBS news about San Diego "citizens" who were harassing pups on their precious beaches. Also, many pregnant adults were said to miscarry when harassed. Are Californians chasing away seals cause they can't share their world with wildlife? I wonder.

For a large organization, your ISP is VERY slow for verification of email addresses. I had to re-authorize 7 times in 3 minutes. If it is going to take a predetermined amount of time to authorize, then you should tell your commenters that are just now signing in that it will take 5 minutes to authorize their email addresses. Lastly, this repeat process results in double posting of your readers' comments and your "snippy" response that no matter how much we like our post, we cannot post twice is rude and unnecessary.

If any of these pups have died, what did the autopsies show? In past instances of this type, stomach contents showed debris from the "trash bin" of the central Pacific Ocean to be present, filling up the stomach but providing no nourishment to the sea lion and other sea mammals. The wanton dumping of fecal tainted garbage from cruise ships is also problematic, especially considering the prevalence of norovirus and rotavirus and their highly contagious nature. Excess cruise ship food not consumed on board is dumped in the ocean carrying these pathogenic gastrointestinal viruses, also. Could it be that sea lions and other species of ocean mammals may be susceptible to contracting these sometimes life threatening viruses?