Racing to Save #California’s #ElephantSeals From #BirdFlu
In 2023, bird #flu arrived on the rocky shores of the Valdés Peninsula in Argentina, ripping through the local colony of southern elephant seals. More than 17,000 seal pups died. It could take decades for the population to recover.
Now, a team of #ecologists, #epidemiologists and #veterinarians is scrambling to keep the same thing from happening to northern elephant seals.
https://www.nytimes.com/card/2025/06/03/science/bird-flu-mammals-elephant-seals-california
https://archive.ph/Xe8d6
#H5N1 #influenza

Relaxing on the beach.
#elephantseals #seals #wildlife #Ocean #Beach #Coast #California #nature

This young, male, elephant seal is on the beach at Año Nuevo while the rest of his colony is on another beach further North. This one is exhausted from the competition with the other males to mate and has taken a break to be alone for a while. The ranger who told me this was a young man in his late 20's. I could not help wondering if there was some projection going on here :-).

Today's Moment of Zen:

#MomentOfZen #Images #Photography #ElephantSeals

[Ano Neuvo Elephant Seal Rookerey, California]

Seal species carries 'genetic scars' after being hunted to the edge of extinction https://phys.org/news/2024-09-species-genetic-scars-edge-extinction.html

Genomic, fitness consequences of a near-extinction event in the northern elephant seal https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02533-2

"Northern #ElephantSeals have staged a remarkable comeback after narrowly escaping #extinction (the population has recovered to 225,000 #animals), but new research reveals lasting effects... The reduced diversity may impair their ability to cope with future changes"

Northern elephant #seals use deep-sea research #sonar as dinner bell https://phys.org/news/2024-09-northern-elephant-deep-sea-sonar.html

#DeepSea observatory provides insights into the behavior at depth of sub-adult male northern #ElephantSeals, Mirounga angustirostris: Héloïse Frouin-Mouy et al. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0308461

"The seals appeared to use this sound to locate an area with prey and may take advantage of #fish disturbed by the camera lights, particularly targeting #sablefish, their preferred meal, as seen in the video footage"

Northern elephant seals huddle together at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center’s temporary field hospital in Laguna Beach, California, US. The area is seeing a higher number of sick or dead seals than in previous years.

Photograph: Leonard Ortiz/AP

@photography
#ElephantSeals
#AnimalRescue

The Bird Flu Virus Adapted to Sea Mammals. It May Not Be Done Yet.

Huge die-offs of elephant seals occurred after the virus gained nearly 20 troublesome new mutations, scientists found.

#birdflu #mammals #viralmutations #elephantseals

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/health/bird-flu-mutations-mammals.html

The California #Coastline rarely disappoints. #opcWeeklyTheme #california #beach #elephantseals

Elephant #seals, once nearly #extinct, are finding new places to call home https://phys.org/news/2024-02-elephant-extinct-home.html

#Genomics of post-bottleneck recovery in the northern elephant seal https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02337-4

"It's a #conservation success story. Once on the brink of #extinction, #ElephantSeals are expanding north into new breeding grounds along the #California coast, turning long-empty beaches into a ruckus of roars, grunts, chirps and moans."

Mass deaths of elephant seals recorded as bird flu sweeps across the Antarctic https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/08/mass-deaths-elephant-seals-penguins-bird-flu-antarctic-ecological-disaster-aoe #Anarctic #BirdFlu #ElephantSeals #extinction #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange

Since the late 1990s, Friends of the Elephant Seal, a nonprofit based in Piedras Blancas, California, has been educating the public about how to coexist with these enormous marine mammals. Their work has been instrumental in bringing the seals back from near-extinction. Smithsonian Magazine talked to volunteers and experts about what they do and why they do it.
https://flip.it/emNwgd

Three portraits of a very photogenic elephant seal.

Central coast of California, July 2023.

The joys of sleeping so deep that your nose creates a sand storm.
Elephant seal, central coast of California, July 2023.

When you finally make it to the party and everyone is too drunk to notice.
Elephant seals, central coast of California, July 2023.

This elephant seal thought it had heard it all and yet...
Central coast of California, July 2023.

A battle in slow motion.
Elephant seals, California central coast, July 2023

Elephant seal, California central coast, July 2023.