Hundreds of Sea Lion Pups Are Dying Off California’s Coast, and Scientists Don’t Know Why

Hundreds of dead sea lion pups have washed ashore this spring near an island off the California coast, and researchers are trying to find out why. “We’re seeing something abnormal,” University of California, Santa Cruz researcher George Colaco told The Epoch Times. Aerial surveys of the sea lion herd near Año Nuevo Island, midway between Santa Cruz and San Francisco, show at least 300 dead pups in the past three weeks, according to Mr. Colaco. The mammals haven’t even reached peak pupping season, which is usually about mid-June. “We don’t understand what’s going on right now,” he said....