Local News in Brief : Huntington Beach : 14th Dead Sea Lion Discovered on Shore

Federal officials, perplexed by the number of dead sea lions washing ashore in Huntington Beach since last Saturday, said another dead animal was found Friday, bringing the total to 14.

Joe Cordaro, a wildlife biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service office in Los Angeles, said the cause of the deaths is still uncertain because the bodies have been too decomposed for a necropsy, an examination to determine the cause of death.

Lifeguards have been asked not to dispose of any sea lion carcasses that may wash ashore in the next few days, however, so that a fresh specimen can be examined to give officials some clues, Cordaro said.

“When we get the first necropsy, it may tell us if there is a disease working,” Cordaro said. However, he said disease is unlikely because all of the animals have been dead. In most cases in which disease is involved, he said, some of the animals would still be alive, but “in a real weakened condition.”

Because all of the sea lions have been dead, Cordaro said that a disease is “at the bottom of the list” of possible causes.

Another possible cause, Cordaro said, is that the animals might have died after becoming entangled in fishing nets. He said the agency can not investigate shootings as the cause of death unless they have an eyewitness.

Cordaro said a recount of the dead marine mammals found so far on Huntington Beach area shores showed that as of Thursday, there had been 13--not 12, as previously reported. The 14th sea lion was discovered Friday near the Huntington Beach Pier.