San Mateo County Año Nuevo State Park hit by bird flu outbreak in elephant seals

almanacnews.com · Feb 26, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Two male elephant seals fight for territory at Año Nuevo State Park in Pescadero, Calif., on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2026. The first cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a California marine mammal were confirmed in northern elephant seals at Año Nuevo on the evening of Tuesday, Feb., 24, 2026. (Sara Heintzelman/NOAA via Bay City News) A multiagency team of wildlife experts confirmed this week that several elephant seals belonging to the famed colony at Ano Nuevo State Park in San Mateo County have tested positive for bird flu. The outbreak of HPAI H5N1 was confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory on Tuesday. It is the first confirmed outbreak in any elephant seal population in California. “This is exceptionally rapid detection of an outbreak in free-ranging marine mammals,” said Christine Johnson, director of the Institute for Pandemic Insights at the University of California, Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine. “We have most likely identified the very first cases here because of coordinated teams that have been on high alert with active surveillance for this disease for some time,” Johnson said. Veterinarians, public health officials and wildlife agencies have been tracking HPAI H5N1 since it first emerged in 1996. It has since spread to every continent on earth and has been found in every U.S. state and Canadian province, including in commercial poultry, backyard flocks, many species of wild birds, and several species of mammals, including humans. Researchers first suspected the presence of the highly pathogenic virus in the Ano Nuevo elephant seal colony last week after observing flu-like symptoms in seven weaned pups, which coincided with an uptick in sick and dead seals in the park, according to Johnson. The pups were exhibiting signs of respiratory and neurologic disease, including tremors and weakness, Johnson said. So far, 30 animals have died at the park, but only seven have been confirmed by lab tests as having the virus. A scientific team led by Roxanne Beltran, a professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz, is now working closely with U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network to continue to monitor marine mammals along the coast, conduct additional testing and provide updates to the public. “We are cautiously optimistic, as most of the adult females had already departed the beach for their routine migrations before the outbreak began, and most seals on the colony seem healthy,” Beltran said. Still, while Beltran is grateful the infection was detected in its early stages, she said she and her team are “completely devastated” that the colony’s health is being threatened.“It’s tough to watch animals we’ve watched and come to know over the years become sick,” she said. As a result of the outbreak, the elephant seal viewing area at Ano Nuevo State Park has been closed and tours have been canceled until at least March 1. People can still visit other areas of the park. More information about the outbreak can be found at pandemicinsights.ucdavis.edu/h5-marine-outbreak. Most Popular