A seal waiting for some lunch at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary. Found In: Cornish Seal Sanctuary

It's been a doozy of a year for marine mammals, who have been dying in record numbers along the California coast. Volunteer rescue crews are traumatized and fatigued, but refuse to give up.

The deaths of dozens of Caspian seals along Iran’s northern coast have renewed concern over the fragile state of the Caspian Sea ecosystem, state media reported.

Seals use their whiskers to detect tiny vortex rings, seeing through the watery “smoke rings” fish use to escape.