A rare Guadalupe fur seal is spotted off Dana Point. The endangered seal is typically not seen near coastal waters. (Photo courtesy by Michelle Velasco for danawharf.com)

A rare Guadalupe fur seal is spotted off Dana Point. The endangered seal is typically not seen near coastal waters. (Photo courtesy by Michelle Velasco for danawharf.com)

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A rare Guadalupe fur seal has been seen off Dana Point for the last couple of weeks. (Photo by Matt Lamand for Danawharf.com)



The Guadalupe fur seal was first seen by Capt. Corey Hall on the Ocean Adventure. (Photo by Matt Lamand for Danawharf.com)

DANA POINT — Keith Matassa performed necropsies — animal autopsies — on Guadalupe fur seals Pacific Marine Mammal Center rescue teams picked up recently, and he was surprised to find some had bellies filled with something they don’t normally eat.

“In both live and dead animals, I’m finding they’re eating the pelagic crabs and having a problem digesting them,” Matassa said. “In some, their stomachs were completely empty and that’s why they’re eating red crabs.”

Matassa, director of zoological and conservation programs at PMMC, works to identify issues affecting the ocean’s health — which, in turn, affects the animals that swim in it. PMMC is coordinating with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other scientists to examine causes for recent mortality events affecting sea lions, dolphins and, now, Guadalupe fur seals.

Local whale watch boat captains have spotted the fur seals — which generally are found south of Mexico — off Dana Point and Laguna Beach in the last several weeks. Matassa and other experts say their appearance locally is likely another indication that ocean conditions are out of balance.

PMMC, has taken in six Guadalupe fur seals this year, compared to three in 2018, three in 2017 and zero in 2016.

Of the six in 2019, three were found dead. Two others died before they could be sent to SeaWorld San Diego and one died shortly after it arrived there. SeaWorld is the only facility in Southern California permitted by the NOAA to rehabilitate these animals considered a “threatened species.”

Since 2015, Guadalupe fur seals have been found emaciated and starving along parts of the California coast. At the time, strandings were eight times greater than historical averages, leading NOAA to declare an Unusual Mortality Event.

Their only known breeding colony is on Guadalupe Island, off the Mexico coast. In recent years, though, some have been seen on the Channel Islands, which are known to be rookeries for sea lions

The status of Guadelupe fur seals is consistent with a pattern of unusual oceanographic events plaguing Southern California waters.

“We have a problem in general with prey for all of us in California,” Matassa said, adding pelagic red crabs is another species that typically lives farther south.

This year, PMMC has taken in nearly triple the number of marine mammals compared with the same period last year. While sea lion strandings in January and February are expected, the Laguna Beach marine mammal center also has rescued harbor seals, elephant seals, and sea turtles.

Even more unusual were the six dolphins found on beaches off Newport and Laguna in February. Matassa performed necropsies on them, as well, to determine the cause of death. Results are pending.

Capt. Todd Mansur, a captain with Dana Wharf Whale Watching, was one of the first to identify the Guadalupe fur seals when they were first being spotted in early April.

At first, the animal was described as an otter. Then it was described as a sea lion behaving like an otter by floating on its back.

“When I saw the photo, I knew immediately that it was a Guadalupe fur seal,” he said.

Similar in appearance to California sea lions, fur seals are best distinguished by their behavior.

“Fur seals will lie at the surface on their backs with their flippers crossed and will look like a sea otter,” Mansur said. “People mistake them for a sea lion acting funny. Sometimes, they fold their hind flipper into their pectoral fin making it look like a teapot handle.”

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“It’s cool to see them, but it’s not normal,” Matassa said. “Sea otters would be more normal to see here rather than Guadalupe fur seals.”