A severe algae bloom has left thousands of marine animals, including sea lions, dolphins, and whales sick or dead along the Southern California coast.
One humpback, one minke, and two gray whales have washed ashore dead in Orange and Los Angeles counties and 16 deceased dolphins were discovered on San Diego beaches last Sunday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries West Coast reported.
Test results revealed that domoic acid is the cause of death in the juvenile female humpback whale stranded in Huntington Beach and the juvenile male minke whale stranded in the Port of Long Beach, according to NOAA.
“This is consistent with the many other marine mammals we have seen affected by domoic acid produced by the harmful algal bloom off Southern California, first detected in February,” a NOAA West Coast spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times on Monday.
Scientists say the acidic toxin accumulates in small fish such as sardines and anchovies before affecting the entire marine food chain.
NOAA Fisheries reported:
This is the fourth year in a row with an algae bloom affecting Southern California marine life. There is often little that responders can do to help dolphins, but they can bring some California sea lions into authorized rehabilitation facilities. Veterinarians treat them by flushing the domoic acid from their systems.
Scientists say domoic acid, a neurotoxin produced by the harmful algae Pseudo-nitzschia can multiply quickly in the right conditions. Wind-driven upwelling of deep ocean water provides nutrients that fuel California’s rich marine ecosystem. That same upwelling can also feed rapid growth of the algae and the toxin it produces.
The Marine Mammal Care Center has argued that human activity and “climate change” is the culprit for the blooms.
Domoic acid is a naturally occurring toxin that has existed for centuries and was first identified in Japan in the late 1950s. Although domoic acid wasn’t detected in California until 1991, the prevalence of toxic algal blooms along the Pacific coast has increased dramatically in recent years. Researchers say human activities like increased fertilizer use, sewage runoff, and warming waters due to climate change create the types of conditions in which algal blooms like these thrive.
Some scientists, however, are doing research that suggests “climate shifting” and Pacific Ocean warming could be part of a hundred-year cycle and the impact of human activity in that cycle is not yet known.
Wildlife experts have offered guidance to beachgoers who come upon sick animals:
Some animals experience seizures on the beach, or may appear to bob their head, while others have died. Beachgoers should remain a safe distance (a minimum of 50 yards) from affected animals — they can act erratically under the influence of the biotoxin.
Anyone who spots a stranded marine mammal is asked to report it to the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network hotline at 866-767-6114.
