6 Blue-Footed Boobies Spotted in Marina Del Rey

The blue-footed booby -- high-diving seabirds that rarely head out north of Imperial County's Salton Sea -- are being spotted up and down Southern California's coastline, including in Marina del Rey.

The birds, which were reported as far north as Marin County, were last seen on Los Angeles County beaches in large numbers in the 1970s, according to the L.A. Times. 

Six of the birds were seen in Marina del Rey recently.

The arrival of the birds follows a high mortality event of sea lion pups in Los Angeles County over the summer. 

"There's a lot of weird things happening out there," Dan Anderson, a professor of wildlife biology at UC Davis, told the newspaper. "No one is sure of what the cause is."

Have you seen the blue-footed booby in Marina del Rey? Tell us in the comments and share your photos.