About 30 seals had died as of Thursday, nearly all of them weaned pups, amid the rise of avian influenzaAn outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu has killed more than two dozen elephant seal pups in California, leading to the temporary closure of seal-viewing areas at a popular Bay Area park.California’s Año Nuevo state park is home to an elephant seal colony with about 5,000 seals during the marine mammals’ breeding season, which runs from mid-December through March. Researchers said about 30 seals had died as of Thursday, nearly all of them weaned pups, amid the rise of avian influenza. Continue reading... ...read more read less