An “all-time record” number of sick sea lions has washed up on California beaches since a deadly bacterial disease broke out this summer, according to the Sausalito-based Marine Mammal Center — with the outbreak especially concentrated in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
Since July 1, the center has responded to at least 375 cases of leptospirosis, a bacterial kidney infection, plus over 50 that occurred earlier in the year.
And the death rate — normally around 2 in 3 even with treatment — has been even worse this year than usual, according to Marine Mammal Center spokesman Giancarlo Rulli.