Elephant seals Content

Egghead Weekend Basket for March 20

Andy Fell — March 20, 2026 - 12:00pm

What happened in research this week at 51�ԹϺ�� Davis? I'm glad you asked.

Global Strategies to Protect Seals and Sea Lions from Avian Influenza

Katherine E Kerlin — March 19, 2026 - 9:02am

When the H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus was discovered on a poultry farm in Asia in 1996, there was little indication that it would become so widespread and so destructive. Within 30 years, it reached every continental region except Oceania, infecting more than 400 million poultry, tens of thousands of elephant seals and sea lions, about 1,000 people and many other mammals and wild birds.

Pinnipeds, which include seals and sea lions, have been hit unusually hard by the virus.

First Cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Northern Elephant Seals Confirmed in California

Katherine E Kerlin — February 25, 2026 - 10:00am

Note: March 12, 2026: This outbreak is ongoing. For the latest updates and materials, please visit the Institute for Pandemic Insights information page.

Seven weaned elephant seal pups in California’s Año Nuevo State Park tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed Tuesday evening.

Avian Influenza Major Setback for Patagonian Seals

Katherine E Kerlin — April 16, 2025 - 3:33pm

It may take 100 years for the southern elephant seal colony of Península Valdés in Argentine Patagonia to look like it did in 2022. A study published in Marine Mammal Science projected population trajectories after the 2023 epidemic of the High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza H5N1 virus, which killed almost all newborn pups and an unknown number of adults.

Elephant Seal Colony Declines One Year After Avian Flu Outbreak

Katherine E Kerlin — November 11, 2024 - 2:00am

A year after an outbreak of H5N1 killed thousands of elephant seals, only about a third of the seals normally expected here returned, 51�ԹϺ�� Davis scientists and partners estimate. A study chronicles the 2023 outbreak.

H5N1 Is Increasingly Adapting to Mammals

Katherine E Kerlin — June 05, 2024 - 9:45am

Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses are adapting to mammals in new ways that could have global consequences. 51�ԹϺ�� Davis study finds clear evidence of mammal-to-mammal transmission.