Bird flu outbreak in California elephant seals prompts officials to cancel popular tours

Researchers say seven seal pups have tested positive for an avian flu virus at California’s Año Nuevo State Park and several more are showing signs of the illness. The outbreak has prompted park officials to cancel the park's popular seal-watching tours for the remainder of the seal breeding season.

Researchers with University of California-Santa Cruz and University of California-Davis made the announcement Wednesday, calling it the first detected outbreak of the virus among marine mammals in California.

The worldwide bird flu outbreak that began in 2020 has led to the deaths of millions of domesticated birds and spread to wildlife around the world, and seals and sea lions appear to be particularly vulnerable to the disease. The virus has led to the deaths of thousands of sea lions in Chile and Peru, thousands of elephant seals in Argentina, and hundreds of seals in New England in recent years.

The virus is considered to be a low risk to humans, but officials said people should avoid approaching the seals and keep pets away from the animals.

Thousands of elephant seals come to Año Nuevo State Park, about 90 minutes south of San Francisco, every winter to fight, mate and give birth. The annual spectacle draws tourists and wildlife watchers eager to see the largest seals on the planet, some watching from public viewing areas and others signing up for docent-led guided walks through the breeding grounds, known as rookeries.

But for now, the viewing area is closed, and tours at Año Nuevo have been canceled “out of an abundance of caution,” said Jordan Burgess, the deputy district superintendent of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Officials hope the move will help prevent any spread of the disease that might be caused by people tracking through the areas where the elephant seals are living, she said.

“We're definitely not panicking about human exposure at this point,” but rather trying to ensure the health of the seals and people in general, Burgess said.

Christine Johnson, the director of the Institute for Pandemic Insights at UC Davis' Weill School of Veterinary Medicine, said the outbreak was spotted quickly because researchers have been on high alert in recent years, watching for any sign of the arrival of the disease. After sick and dead animals were spotted on Feb. 19 and 20, researchers collected samples for testing at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System. The screening showed the animals were infected with HPAI H5N1 virus.

Tests on samples from about 30 more animals are still pending, Johnson said.

The university researchers are working with state and federal wildlife managers and The West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network to monitor the animals.

FILE - Red Star chickens feed in their coop, Jan. 10, 2023, at Historic Wagner Farm in Glenview, Ill.(AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)

FILE - Elephant seals rest on a beach at Año Nuevo State Park, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Pescadero, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez,File)

FILE - A female elephant seal watches visitors on a tour of Año Nuevo State Park, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Pescadero, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez,File)

FILE - People watch as elephant seals rest on a beach at Año Nuevo State Park, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Pescadero, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez,File)

FILE - An elephant seal pup, right, rests next to female elephant seals on a beach at Año Nuevo State Park, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Pescadero, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez,File)

LONDON (AP) — British police said Sunday they are investigating whether a string of arson attacks. on Jewish sites in London are the work of Iranian proxies.

The Metropolitan Police force says counterterror officers are probing the attacks on synagogues and other sites linked to the Jewish community, as well as an attack on a Persian-language media company.

No one has been injured in the blazes, the latest of which caused minor damage to a north London synagogue on Saturday night.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said the attacks had been claimed online by a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia.

“We are aware of public reporting that suggests this group may have links to Iran. As you would expect, we will continue to explore that question as our investigation evolves," she said.

“I’ve spoken previously about the Iranian regime’s use of criminal proxies, and we’re considering whether this tactic is being used here in London," she added.

Israel’s government has described Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as a recently founded group with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy” that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

A blaze that damaged Kenton United Synagogue on Saturday night follows a series of blazes at Jewish-linked premises and an Iranian opposition outlet that are being investigated by counterterror police.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said on X that “a sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is gathering momentum.

“Thank God, no lives have been lost, but we cannot, and must not, wait for that to change before we understand just how dangerous this moment is for all of our society,” he added.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attacks, and pledged that "those responsible will be found and brought to justice.”

London’s Metropolitan Police force said it has sent extra uniformed and plainclothes officers to northwest London after attacks in the past month on synagogues, Jewish charity ambulances and a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran’s government.

The Kenton synagogue arson came a day after an attempt to ignite bottles of fluid outside the former offices of a Jewish charity on Friday night.

No one has been injured in any of the incidents. Several people, ranging in age from teens to people in their 40s, have been arrested and charged.

The same group also posted a video claiming Israel’s London embassy was going to be attacked with drones carrying dangerous substances. Police said the embassy was not attacked, but the force shut the nearby Kensington Gardens park on Friday as officers examined discarded items including two jars containing powder. Police said nothing harmful was found.

The U.K. has accused Iran of using criminal proxies to conduct attacks on European soil targeting opposition media outlets and the Jewish community. Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service says that more than 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots were disrupted in the year to October.

Some security experts say Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia is likely a flag of convenience rather than a coherent group, and its claims should be treated with caution.

FILE - A sign stands in front of the New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police, in London, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Police officers patrol at a cordon near Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow, a suburb of London, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (Jamie Lashmar/PA via AP)