These coastal animal die-offs are not uncommon during hotter-then-normal
ocean conditions, such as the Pacific "Blob" and el Nino. The hotter water
displaces the normal current flow patterns that drive upwelling and
longshore movement. As the currents shift, plankton shifts, and the
schooling small fish move, too, out of the piscivorous bird feeding ranges,
causing starvation and death. Last fall/winter we saw bird deaths
attributed to the "Blob" (see
https://www.audubon.org/magazine/march-april-2015/lost-sea-starving-birds-wa
rming-world) and I heard today on NPR that the second-strongest el Nino (see
http://blog.aba.org/2014/07/el-nino-effects-on-birds-and-birding.html) on
record is here and building. It will likely trigger population collapses of
many seabird and pinniped species during the next year, from California
through Alaska.