El Nio could bring waves of starving sea lion pups to California beaches. It's happened before

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Set us as preferred A wrinkled Northern elephant seal named Violet slid out of a crate and onto San Pedro’s Cabrillo Beach on a muggy morning in late August.The pinniped pup looked around quizzically with large, black eyes before lumbering into the surf with abandon — as only the young can.Violet, named for the color of identifying crayon scrawled on her brow, is one of 250 to 500 patients the Marine Mammal Care Center rescues along the Los Angeles County coast every year.With a powerful El Niño forecast for this winter — on top of an ongoing marine heatwave — center staff fear the months ahead could bring an influx of blubbery patients.“We can look at the past as the best predictor for the future,” said Dave Bader, chief operations and education officer at the center.“When we’ve seen conditions like this, the major effect for Southern California has been mass stranding of malnourished pups.”From 2013 to 2016 — a period that included another El Niño event as well as an ocean heatwave known as “The Blob” — thousands upon thousands of California sea lion pups were found underfed and in distress.Whether or not a similar mass stranding event occurs this time around depends on how conditions this year affect a phenomenon known as upwelling.On the West Coast, upwelling occurs when seasonal winds push warm surface water offshore, allowing deep, cold, nutrient-rich water to rise to the surface.

This typically happens in the spring and summer and it’s an ideal time for seals, sea lions, seabirds and dolphins to give birth, since food is plentiful.“You get a bonanza of life,” Bader said.However, El Niño and marine heatwaves can change the timing or force of the winds, potentially dampening coastal upwelling and reducing the availability of food for sea life along the coast.

The consequences are especi...