Park reopens after bird‑flu seal die-off

A beach that usually fills with tourists watching elephant seals will reopen on Saturday, April 11, after a bird-flu outbreak killed an estimated 95 to 100 seals at Año Nuevo State Park on the San Mateo County coast. Park officials said the marine preserve and seal viewing areas are reopening even as scientists keep investigating the deaths. (kron4.com) The closure lasted about six weeks. Año Nuevo shut public access after researchers found sick and dead seal pups on February 19 and February 20, and California State Parks canceled guided elephant seal tours for the rest of the breeding season. (sfgate.com) (parks.ca.gov) Bird flu is avian influenza, a virus that usually spreads in birds but can sometimes jump into mammals. In this outbreak, lab testing confirmed the subtype called highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in seven recently weaned northern elephant seal pups. (ucdavis.edu) That mattered immediately because California had never recorded H5N1 in a marine mammal before, and northern elephant seals had never been confirmed with it anywhere before this outbreak. The first positive samples were confirmed by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory on February 24. (ucsc.edu) (ucdavis.edu) Researchers first noticed weakness, tremors, and other neurological and breathing problems in the pups. That kind of symptom pattern is one reason scientists worry about H5N1 in mammals, because the virus has caused severe illness and mass die-offs in seals and sea lions in other countries. (ucsc.edu) (clickondetroit.com) Año Nuevo is not a small colony. California State Parks says up to 10,000 northern elephant seals return there each year to breed, give birth, and molt, and about 1,350 seals were on the beach when this outbreak began. (parks.ca.gov) (ucdavis.edu) The death count climbed as the season went on. Reserve director Patrick Robinson said by March 20 that about 50 seals had died on mainland beaches and another 45 to 50 had died on Año Nuevo Island, which sits about half a mile offshore. (kron4.com) The virus also moved beyond the first seven pups. As of April 2, the Institute for Pandemic Insights at the University of California, Davis said 32 northern elephant seals in San Mateo County and four in Santa Cruz County had tested positive, along with two California sea lions and one southern sea otter in San Mateo County. (cbsnews.com) Visitors are being let back in because the park says this is now a good window to see young weanlings before their first migration and adult females returning to molt. Entry to the preserve still requires a free same-day permit, and parking costs $10 without a California State Parks pass. (cbsnews.com) (thatsmypark.org) The rule for anyone who goes is simple: do not touch live or dead seals, and do not let pets approach them. Public health officials say the risk to people is very low, but the virus can spread between animals and humans, so distance is part of the cleanup now. (cbsnews.com)