Deaths Still Mystery : Sea Lion Toll Reaches 47; 9 More Found

Nine more dead sea lions washed ashore on Orange County beaches Sunday, bringing to 47 the number of deaths in the last 2 weeks.

The deaths have mystified officials as the number of carcasses mounts daily.

Huntington Beach City Lifeguard Claude Panis said five sea lions washed ashore there Sunday morning over a 2-mile stretch of beach on both sides of the pier.

“They ranged in size from small, 110 pounds, up to about 180 pounds,” Panis said, adding that there was no immediate way to determine how the animals died.

“It looked like possible bullet wounds,” Panis said. “I saw some wounds that were real symmetrical, but I’m not really an expert on it.”

A federal official said last week that evidence so far points to the sea lions dying by becoming trapped in fishing nets. Necropsies performed Thursday on two sea lions found in Orange County produced no evidence of bullets or parasitic infections or illnesses, the U.S. National Fisheries Service reported.

“The moisture and salt tend to decompose (the carcasses) pretty quickly,” Panis said. His crew buried the mammals’ bodies 4 to 5 feet below the surface of the sand, above the high-tide mark.

The nine sea lions that washed ashore Sunday were in various stages of decomposure.

At Huntington Beach State Park, Lifeguard Richard Rozzelle said a dead mature sea lion was found Sunday.

Newport Beach lifeguard Mike Malloy said two more were found on the beach there Sunday at 10 and 11 a.m.

San Clemente lifeguard supervisor Jeff Harman said a dead sea lion, about 7 feet long, floated ashore late in the afternoon and will be tested to try to determine how it died.

Four dead sea lions had washed ashore on county beaches Saturday, also leaving little indication of what lies behind the rash of deaths.

“I’m beginning to believe the sea lions are dying through interaction with fishermen’s nets out at sea,” said Joe Cordaro, a wildlife biologist with the National Marine and Fisheries Service office in Los Angeles.

Cordaro cautioned that there was no proof yet that fishing nets are to blame, “but we are coming to this conclusion because everything else seems to be ruled out.”