• By Stacey Pestrin
• By Bethanie Alderson
• By Evelyn Leckie
• Topic:Avian Influenza
• SA records first bird flu case in sea lion, environment minister says – ABC News

Posted about 15h agoabout 15 hours ago, updated about 11h agoabout 11 hours ago

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South Australia has recorded the first confirmed detection of H5 bird flu in an Australian sea lion.

SA’s environment minister Emily Bourke said the sea lion was found at Seal Bay on Kangaroo Island.

About 85 per cent of the country’s Australian sea lions are in SA, with the remainder in Western Australia, according to the National Parks and Wildlife Service which estimates the total population to be less than 12,000.

“We know that in South Australia this is the home of the Australian sea lion. Most of the population is here,” Ms Bourke said.

Ms Bourke said the sea lion in Seal Bay was recovering from a shark attack when it succumbed to bird flu.

“We found that it was actually not the shark that killed the sea lion, it was the bird flu case,” she said, adding that the sea lion may have been more vulnerable to disease due to its existing injuries.

Ms Bourke said South Australia’s sea lion population was already experiencing a decline in population of about 2 per cent every year.

She said other parts of the world had seen a “devastating impact” of bird flu on sea lions and seals, citing the example of Heard Island, an external Australian territory in the Southern Ocean, where research estimates more than 13,000 baby seals have succumbed to bird flu — more than three-quarters of the cohort on the island.

Seal Bay home to sea lion colony

Kangaroo Island Mayor Michael Pengilly said the bird flu case was “not unexpected” but was still disappointing, and he hoped numbers would remain at a minimum.

He said Seal Bay was the “most visited place on Kangaroo Island” and a favourite spot with international visitors.

“Everybody wants to go to Seal Bay, it’s a fascinating place. It’s a colony, one of the last ones in Australia and it’s quite a large colony so it’s on the favourite list for everybody including locals,” he said.

He said tours of Seal Bay were currently being conducted from the boardwalk rather than the beach to help prevent the spread of bird flu.

Ms Bourke said bird flu has now been detected in four different mammal species in South Australia.

Last month, the virus was detected in a long-nosed fur seal in SA’s south-east, marking Australia’s first positive case in a mammal.

Ms Bourke said the state has since had two more confirmed cases in long-nosed fur seals, as well as a “number” of confirmed cases in little penguins — including one announced today at Victor Harbor.

If you see a sick or dead bird:

• Do not touch it.
• Take note of the location and, if possible, take photos.
• Report it to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline: 1800 675 888.

First case of bird flu in endangered Australian sea lion confirmed – as it happened | Australia news | The Guardian

Lisa Cox

South Australia has confirmed its first H5 bird flu case in an endangered Australian sea lion.

The sea lion was found dead by a state government ranger at Seal Bay at Kangaroo Island on Friday.

The animal had sustained a shark wound three months prior and was already being monitored. The government said it was confident the shark wound was not the cause of death and tests had returned a strong positive result for H5 bird flu.

The government said there had been no other known endangered sea lion deaths at seal bay but it was monitoring the population closely.

Seal Bay has an estimated 800 resident Australian sea lions, the third largest single colony for the species and about 5% of the total population. About three quarters of Australia’s sea lion population lives in South Australia.

Scientists had warned of the potential “carnage” in the Australian sea lion population if bird flu takes hold, after the virus had already impacted seal populations in South America and sub-Antarctica.

SA confirmed Australia’s first case in a mainland mammal in August after a dead long-nosed fur seal found at Beachport on the Limestone Coast tested positive for H5N1.

John Woinarski, a leading mammal scientist at Charles Darwin University, said at the time he feared the virus could quickly start affecting more seals and sea lions.

“The carnage may be substantial and represent a serious conservation impact,” he said.

“I fear for Australian sea lions in particular because of their small population size.”

Friday September 11, 2026

Evan Quarnstrom

Senior Writer

California Wildlife Authorities Punished Two Crab Fishermen for Littering Dozens of Traps

Staff

Leaving crab traps in the ocean not only starves crabs to death, but it can harm other wildlife. Photo: California Department of Fish and Wildlife//Facebook

The California Fish and Game Commission revoked the commercial fishing licenses of two Dungeness crab fishermen for purposefully abandoning dozens of crab traps in Northern California waters, among other offenses. The commission acted on the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s recommendations and publicly named and shamed the two fishermen — Darryl Donovan, 66, of Gilroy; and Terry Groat, 60, of Crescent City.

In Donovan’s case, the Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Enforcement District and U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Humboldt Bay investigated abandoned traps near the Klamath River in Del Norte County after the 2023-2024 season. They found that Donovan had abandoned 107 crab traps, as well as failing to “service traps in the required 96 hours and submit mandatory fishing reports, and fishing with untagged and improperly marked buoys.”

In Groat’s case, officers discovered that he had left 87 traps near the Smith River in Del Norte County. They also wrote him up for not servicing the traps, not tagging buoys, not submitting required reports, and killing hundreds of crabs.

In a comment on the department’s Facebook post, Dave Groat, claiming to be the brother of Terry Groat, said his brother couldn’t retrieve the traps because his boat broke down and he’s diabetic.

According to the California Commercial Fishing Digest, it’s prohibited to leave crab buoys, traps, or lines in the water after the end of the Dungeness crab fishing season. They need to be removed from the water by 11:59 p.m. on the last day of the season, which, on the northern coast of California, is July 30.

“Those who abandon traps not only endanger marine mammals and other wildlife that can become trapped or entangled in derelict gear, but they can also cause shortened fishing seasons for law-abiding fishers who depend on those opportunities for their livelihood,” the Department of Fish and Wildlife said. “Whether it’s hunting, recreational fishing or commercial fishing, the privilege to harvest California’s fish and wildlife requires a high degree of mutual trust between the public and law enforcement.”