Sentences with phrase «sea lion mothers»
Researchers have also been monitoring sea lion mothers with pups on the Channel Islands.
http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/
In order to provide sustenance for their pups, sea lion mothers have to leave their pups on the beach while they forage for fish.
But sea lion mothers are having trouble finding enough food to sustain themselves and the pups they are nursing, so many of these young animals are left starving on the islands for days at a time.
As nursing sea lion mothers travel farther from their pups to find food, these young sea lions are unable to fend for themselves and wash ashore due to starvation.
Not exact matches
The scientists did not study how changes in fish species affect the composition and quality of milk that mother sea lions feed their pups, which affects the growth of the pups.
Scientists say that the unusually warm waters that have been affecting food availability for mother sea lions near the Channel Islands have also been affecting the waters near Guadalupe Island.
Their life cycle is similar to their more abundant sea lion cousins, with mothers giving birth on the island in June and July, and temporarily leaving their pups on the beach as they forage for food nearby for nine months before pups are weaned in the spring.
NOAA Fisheries scientists analyzed changes in sea lion prey and found that high - calorie sardines and anchovies, both rich in fat that is vital to the growth of young sea lions, have declined in the last 10 years in the areas near the Channel Islands, where nursing mothers search for food.
Sea lions that stay with their mothers for 10 to 11 months aren't weaned until April or May, so that's when we usually begin to see them stranding.
While the experts don't yet know for sure why these animals are starving, they believe the mother sea lions may be having trouble finding enough food to support their nursing pups.
Typically, a California sea lion his age would be with his mother on the Channel Islands, a protected area that serves as the primary rookery for these animals, where thousands of mother sea lions give birth and nurse their pups for 10 - 11 months.
During yesterday's paddle to Bell Island, we saw both sea lions and seals - a mother and a baby.