A couple of years ago I had the chance to sit at the Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco and watch the sea lions. They made me laugh with their antics. They bark very loud if one invades the other’s space yet don’t seem to mind sitting all squished in alongside one another. And they appear to delight in the attention of the humans watching them. Did you know? Approximately 300,000 sea lions live between the Mexican border and the state of Washington.

To my great dismay, I just learned that 940 young starving and dying sea lions turned up on the shores of California in the first two months of this year. This is a record. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) said that is four times the number California would typically see.

Normally, sea lions eat squid and sardines. Yet the warmer ocean is pushing those prey deeper beneath the ocean’s surface. In fact, the ocean is up to five degrees hotter. This means sea lion mothers must go further for food. And it means their pups are left alone for longer periods of time than usual. Weakened and devoid of sustenance, the pups wash ashore.

Animal rescue shelter employees and volunteers are rushing to save the sea lions. Unfortunately, they cannot save all of them. Often, they must leave some sea lions on the beach because they do not have space to take them. It is like leaving injured patients at an accident scene because there is not enough room at the hospital.

This is the third year in a row for a high number of sea lion pups to die or be stranded. The death number was so high in 2013 that experts declared it an “unusual mortality event” for the species. Perhaps you would like to donate money to a marine mammal rescue center or volunteer to help the sea lions. You can also help by reducing your carbon footprint. Make a difference, time is running out.