but in 2015, it's not that unsual according to local news agencies. >> the creatures are stranding, starvingand apparently dying this year along the coast. >> the images tell a haunted story. >> while we have seen spikes in recent years, 2015 is already off to an unusually bad start. >> the headlines paint a picture of an epidemic of sick pups in desperate search of food, but what's really going on is more complex. techknow went to the san diego headquarters for noaa, a federal agency that studies the oceans, for answers. >> what's happened in the last two years is that the waters in the north east pacific have warmed up way beyond what we are used to. >> according to noaa a, warmer ocean off of southern california has made it harder for nursing sea lions to forage and as a result the pups are not getting enough nourishment. el ninio is an event scientists have seen several times but this year's temperatures are quite different. >> what's really different is the water in the north east pacific warmed up over a year ago, usually that warming occurs after the el nino developed but in this case