Sea Lion Death Toll Now at 24 as 3 More Bodies Wash Ashore

Three more dead sea lions washed ashore on Orange County beaches Wednesday, but they provided no new clues in the mysterious deaths of a total of 24 of the marine mammals, a federal official said.

One dead sea lion was found Wednesday morning at Huntington Beach, the 21st found on that city’s beaches in the past 2 weeks, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. Another washed up Wednesday in neighboring Sunset Beach, and a third landed on the sands in the Surfside area of Seal Beach, bringing the total found on Orange County beaches to 24 since Jan. 21, the federal agency reported.

“We still don’t know what is killing them or where at sea they are dying,” said Joe Cordaro, a wildlife biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service office in Los Angeles.

“We may never be able to solve this. It may be one of those questions that is never answered. This is really frustrating.”

Sharks Feed on Them

Cordaro said he does not think sharks have caused any of the deaths, although sharks naturally feed on sea lions.

“I really don’t think sharks are involved,” he said. “If the sea lions had been attacked by sharks, you’d see whole sections torn from their bodies, and we haven’t seen this. I’m inclined to rule out any kind of predator attacks.”

Cordaro said the sea lion body found Wednesday in Huntington Beach washed ashore near Huntington Street and Pacific Coast Highway, about a half mile south of the Huntington Beach pier.

“This was a sea lion (about) 1 to 2 years old,” he said. “Most of the head was missing. It was a very decomposed body. I went to Huntington Beach to see this latest body, but there wasn’t much I could tell from the condition of the body. There were no signs of bullet holes, just some gaping wounds, and I couldn’t determine the cause of them.”

The dead sea lion found on Sunset Beach was near Pacific Coast Highway and Broadway, Cordaro said. Seal Beach Lifeguard Tom Tarpley said the dead sea lion found in that city was discovered about 2:20 p.m. near Anderson Street and Pacific Coast Highway.

Focus of Investigation

Cordaro said the focus of the federal investigation remains on the Huntington Beach area. He noted that the number of dead sea lions at Huntington Beach has changed several times as bodies that were found earlier but went unrecorded have been brought to the attention of federal officials.

“The 21 (found in Huntington Beach) doesn’t include the sick sea lion that was found (Saturday) at Seal Beach,” Cordaro said.

That sea lion died the next day. Officials at Sea World in San Diego, where the sea lion had been taken, determined that it died of natural causes and that its death did not appear related to those of the sea lions found in Huntington Beach.

The first of the dead sea lions washed ashore in Huntington Beach on Jan. 21, and Cordaro noted that one or more additional bodies have been drifting onto Huntington beaches virtually every day since then.