Dead Seabirds Washing Up on Point Reyes Beaches Linked to Avian Influenza

Avian influenza appears to have made its way to Point Reyes National Seashore after a sharp uptick in dead seabirds along park beaches raised alarms among wildlife officials.

Park biologists began noticing an unusual number of dead common murres in late February. On March 10, the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center determined that one of the birds most likely died from bird flu. The small, penguin-like seabird is one of many casualties in what the National Park Service is now calling a broader regional seabird die-off affecting beaches across the San Francisco Bay Area.

The virus, which is extremely lethal to birds, has been spreading through wildlife populations along the California coast. Recent cases of avian influenza in marine mammals at Ano Nuevo State Park, located south of San Francisco, have heightened concern about the disease’s reach and its potential to jump between species.

At Point Reyes, park staff are working alongside a network of wildlife health organizations to track the situation. Partners include The Marine Mammal Center, the Beach Watch program run by Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries and researchers at UC Davis.

Biologists are keeping a particularly close eye on the park’s northern elephant seal colony, given what’s been observed at Ano Nuevo. So far, no signs of illness have been detected among elephant seals at Point Reyes.

The situation remains fluid, and officials are expected to continue monitoring wildlife health across the region as the virus moves through coastal bird populations.