PESCADERO, Calif. (KRON) -- Scientists continue to closely monitor a concentrated outbreak of avian influenza that is killing dozens of elephant seals on the San Francisco Bay Area coast. As of Friday, scientists said approximately 100 recent seal deaths at Año Nuevo State Park in southern San Mate o County were caused by the HPAI H5N1 virus. Research teams with UC Santa Cruz who are tracking the bird flu’s impact at the park’s reserve are currently finding an average of two newly dead and two newly symptomatic animals every day, according to a report released Thursday. The outbreak was first discovered after seven northern elephant seal pups were found dead or sick on Feb. 19 and Feb. 20, according to UC Davis, which tested samples obtained by UCSC researchers. Approximately 10,000 elephant seals gather on Año Nuevo State Park’s beaches in Pescadero every winter to fight and breed before returning to the ocean. Prior to the outbreak, UCSC said around 80% of adult female elephant seals had already left. A researcher swabs a northern elephant seal at Año Nuevo State Park. Photo by Frans Lanting for the Beltran Lab / UC Santa Cruz under NMFS Permit 28742. Surveys are being conducted daily at the seal colony both on the mainland’s beach and at Año Nuevo Island, situated a half mile offshore. Año Nuevo Reserve Director Patrick Robinson told KRON4 on Friday that the estimated total number of elephant seal deaths from HPAI on the mainland is about 50, plus another 45 to 50 on the island. While researchers are studying the seal colony’s health, they are also looking at how the virus is impacting the greater local ecosystem, including other marine mammals and scavengers that visit the beaches. One southern sea otter and two California sea lions have tested positive for bird flu after being found dead in the area. Trail cameras have been set up to monitor scavengers and carcasses “to understand potential transmission between marine and terrestrial animals,” UCSC said. A bull elephant seal, center, vocalizes on a beach at Año Nuevo State Park, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Pescadero, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez) While many of the elephant seals have moved out of the area for their migrations, researchers said they will continue surveillance as seabird and sea lion breeding seasons ramp up. California State Parks announced in late February that all remaining public tours of the reserve this year to see elephant seals were halted. Other areas of Año Nuevo State Park remain open to visitors. ...read more read less