By Susanne Rust | Los Angeles TimesThe H5N1 bird flu virus that devastated South America’s elephant seal populations has been confirmed in seals at California’s Año Nuevo State Park, researchers from UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz announced Wednesday. The death toll so far was not provided, although a press release from UC Davis noted at least some animals had succumbed. “This is exceptionally rapid detection of an outbreak in free-ranging marine mammals,” said professor Christine Johnson, director of the Institute for Pandemic Insights at UC Davis’ Weill School of Veterinary Medicine. Scientists at UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis increased their surveillance of the elephant seals in Año Nuevo in recent years. Beltran’s lab leads UC Santa Cruz’s northern elephant seal research program at Año Nuevo.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 25, 2026 22:05 UTC