![sea lio sea lio](https://assets.teenvogue.com/photos/595d3578b596906a6f6e8916/1:1/w_3412,h_3412,c_limit/GettyImages-553790159.jpg)
Put simply, something mysterious was causing the young sea lions to leave home long before they were ready. But it wasn't just the sheer number of pups that was alarming: Sometimes weighing less than half of what they should, the tiny animals were showing up extremely early in the year, at a time when they should have been relaxing on their Channel Island nurseries and plumping up on mom's milk. Rescuers found them in flowerpots, beneath parked cars, resting on the porch of an ocean-side resort. Starting in January 2013, waves of starving sea lion pups began washing ashore in southern California. In this case, scientists still don't really know what that something is. Generally, if sea lions are suffering, something is wrong offshore. "We're all kind of holding our breath," says Justin Viezbicke, stranding network coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Ĭalifornia sea lions (Zalophus californianus) are considered a sentinel species, meaning they're seen as indicators of ocean health. Now, with peak stranding months still on the way, rescue centers along the California coast are bracing for more. Last year, it took until April for the Sausalito facility to receive a hundred sea lions, but this year the center has seen that many sea lions in the past ten days alone. The calls are coming at a much faster pace than usual. So far, the facility has responded to 171 stranded sea lions. Here, the snorty symphony of rescued sea lions is accented by the continual ringing of rescue hotlines. "They're extremely emaciated, basically starving to death," says veterinarian Shawn Johnson of the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. Why these animals are struggling to survive is a mystery, and early stranding numbers suggest that 2015 could be even worse than the previous two years. Since January 1, nearly 500 of the tiny animals have been admitted to the state's rehabilitation centers-a number many times higher than normal.
![sea lio sea lio](https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/images/made_new/images-uploads-chase_side_profile_600_q85.jpg)
SAUSALITO, California-For the third winter in a row, starving sea lion pups are washing ashore on California's beaches.