Emaciated brown pelicans are washing up on California shores in the hundreds. State officials and researchers aren’t sure why, but they think it could be weather-related.

The state’s working hypothesis is that this situation, similar to what happened in 2022 when nearly 800 starving pelicans were rescued, was likely caused by late spring storms hitting the coast.

“The waters were incredibly choppy, it was very windy, visibility was poor,” said Tim Daly, spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Our strongest belief at this point is that the pelicans were simply having trouble reaching the fish that were below the surface.”

He said there are plenty of fish and noted that anchovies are particularly abundant this year. The pelicans just can’t find them in the murky water.

Monterey Bay is a particular hotspot in the state’s rescue effort. The Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center at the SPCA of Monterey County has taken in more than 100 famished birds over the past month. Staff there have dedicated two outdoor enclosures to the pelicans and converted a staff bathroom into a heated recovery room for birds that can’t regulate their body temperature. Rescue calls started coming in on April 19 and have not yet stopped.

Ciera Duits-Cavanaugh, manager of the wildlife center, said the birds are arriving at half the weight they should be and that most rescues are happening on piers.

“[The birds are] targeting places where there’s easy food, so boats that are off-loading fish onto docks, restaurants — anywhere that they can get a hand-out,” Duits-Cavanaugh said.

Cory Utter, the senior wildlife technician at the wildlife center, said they likely are not saving all the pelicans because most people can’t tell if a bird is struggling. There is one sure sign, though.

“If you can walk right up to it, and it doesn’t seem bothered by you, then there’s probably something wrong,” Utter said. Officials recommend people call local wildlife centers if that happens.

Last week, a mom and her young son reported a weak-looking pelican drooping its beak into a tide pool at Asilomar State Beach in Monterey County. Two SPCA volunteers crouched down on the rocks, scooped up the bird, and placed it in a dog crate. The pelican didn’t resist. After a short drive back to the wildlife center, the volunteers pulled out the crate. The bird’s eyes were open, but its head was cocked to one side, and it was motionless. It had died in transit.

Storms may be to blame

Rebecca Duerr, director of Research and veterinary science at International Bird Rescue, said the explanation that early spring storms limit the bird’s ability to find food makes sense, especially since they’ve tested dead pelicans and ruled out avian flu as a possible cause.

“Certainly, the visibility and catchability of fish can be an issue for them because they don’t dive very deep — even the biggest brown pelican can only grab fish about 6 feet deep,” she said.

About one-third to a half of the starving pelicans arriving at rescue centers were injured, she added.

“I think that brown pelicans take more risks in their feeding — more likely to go after fishing gear and that sort of stuff — when they’re nutritionally stressed,” Duerr said. “A desperate, hungry pelican can get into trouble.”

After an odd weather event in 2010, she said, they were found landing in people’s yards and snatching food off of hot barbecue grills.

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