The State : Nine Added to Sea Lion Toll

Nine more dead sea lions were found washed ashore on Orange County beaches, bringing to 47 the number of carcasses found in the last two weeks. “We haven’t seen evidence of bullets or evidence that sharks are getting to them,” said a spokeswoman for the Friends of the Sea Lion Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach. “They’re just dead . . . It’s a real puzzle.” Some scientists have theorized that the sea lions have drowned after having become trapped in fishermen’s nets.