Deadly Sea Lion Mystery Draws Biologists to Remote San Miguel Island, Calif in Search of Clues

It’s late June, and San Miguel Island’s white sand beaches are filled with barking sea lions. More than 100,000 of them. The marine mammals have come to this windy, remote island to breed and give birth – a rowdy, stinky summer extravaganza that last year, enigmatically, ended in disaster. Sardine and anchovy, which normally cycle in abundance, are both low now, a combination that strains the food resources available to predators like sea lions. Though the cause of the decline is still unknown, it doesn’t seem to be the result of overfishing. [email protected]

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