Animal lovers want tax money to protect seals. Liken it to feeding stray cats. Keep protecting them and the population quickly increases, outstripping the food sources and attracting more predators.
Harbormaster with the city of Monterey, Steve Scheiblauer said last spring the number jumped to about 700 and with it came a lot starving juveniles.
“At that time the animals were young and thin very emaciated looking,” Scheiblauer said.
For many it was hard to watch the animals, which can be an annoyance to many boaters and fisherman but are also endearing.
“It’s hard to witness this kind of thing, but you know I have seen a lot of it and this is nature appears to be unfolding,” said Scheiblauer about the event in 2015.
Delong said the population is seeing its first big disturbance in decades thanks to the warm blob which has been pushing food sources farther out to sea.