Dozens Of Sea Lions Picked Up In SoCal; New Toxic Algae Bloom Seems Likely Cause
EDIT
The Seal Beach sea lion died later at the Laguna Beach center — the eighth to die in the last week. Since April 4, the center has picked up 15 sea lions showing signs of domoic acid poisoning. In Los Angeles County, staff from the Marine Mammal Center Los Angeles picked up 15 adult sea lions in 10 days. SeaWorld in San Diego has picked up six sea lions. The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito has been alerted by the Southern California centers to be on the lookout.
Officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are expressing concerns that this outbreak could become another domoic acid poisoning crisis, similar to one a decade ago that killed and sickened hundreds of sea lions along the Southern California coast. “We are beginning to see numbers of animals coming in with similar symptoms,” said Justin Viezbicke, marine mammal stranding coordinator at NOAA. “Our thought is, we have some sort of domoic acid outbreak going on.”
Researchers at NOAA have reported that large algae blooms, fed by fertilizers and runoff from recent rains, have sprung up along the coastline. The algae is eaten by surface fish, which are a prime choice of pregnant female sea lions. In large concentrations, the algae produce neurotoxins that destroy the brain.
Blooms can happen in spring, but in recent years, marine mammal stranding centers in Southern California have seen only one or two cases. The first such mass stranding occurred in 2002, when the Pacific Marine Mammal Center rescued 272 animals. Eighty percent of those were adult females. In 2006, 79 showed signs of domoic acid; of those, 60 to 70 percent were adult pregnant females. In 2007, 175 sea lions also showed signs of domoic acid poisoning; 50-60 percent were female adults.
EDIT
http://www.ocregister.com/2017/04/12/sea-lion-strandings-in-southern-california-signal-deadly-toxic-bloom-outbreak-experts-say/
= new reply since forum marked as read
