Two male elephant seals fight for territory at Año Nuevo State Park in Pescadero Feb. 6. The first cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a California marine mammal were confirmed in northern elephant seals at Año Nuevo on Tuesday evening.
Wildlife authorities confirmed Thursday that nine more elephant seals, a sea lion and an otter have died from bird flu at Ano Nuevo State Park in San Mateo County.
That brings the total number of confirmed animals killed in and around that location by the H5N1 avian influenza to 18, with all but two being northern elephant seals.
The outbreak was first announced in February after the virus was confirmed in seven dead elephant seals by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories.
It is the first confirmed outbreak in any elephant seal population in California, but it so far seems confined to the famous, well-studied population that migrates back to the beaches at Ano Nuevo State Park every year.
Researchers and wildlife experts from several agencies and organizations are monitoring bird and marine mammal populations along the coast, conducting additional testing and providing updates to the public.
So far, it appears as if this specific variation of the virus emerged in 2022 in bird populations migrating through the Pacific Flyway and caused a mass mortality event in northern fur seals on an island in eastern Russia.
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