The pregnant sea lion was alone on a rocky shore in Imperial Beach. Suffering from a suspected case of home -in -domoic acid intoxication, the animal has traveled from disturbing movements: first, its head would be swallowed and agitated; Then his body would shake crises; And finally, exhausted, she would be motionless.
Despite her problems, she was one of the luckiest: picked up by SeaWorld animal rescue workers responding to sick animals along the local beaches. But it was so weak that it had to be pulled in the box by its fins.
In the marine park, the animal was examined and gave liquids to try to chase the toxins of its system. But she was too bad and died a few hours later.
During last and a half week, the phone rings the SeaWorld rescue program while a proliferation of algae in coastal waters caused a wave of sickness and sick sea mammals. The park receives a hundred calls or emails a day, sometimes repeated calls on the same animal, said spokesperson for Tracy Spahr Park.
San Diego is only the last place along the coast to be hit with a wave of sick animals that started in the Santa Barbara region in February. Scientists say that a type of plankton called pseudo-nitzschia is to be blamed. It produces a neurotoxin called Domoic acid.
When plankton is consumed, domoic acid can accumulate in crustaceans and fish and can damage the brain and the heart of larger mammals that eat infected foods, sometimes making them behave aggressively.
Friday afternoon, 27 marine lions suspected of poisoning at home-like acid had been brought to Seaworld, against 11 last year and 18 in 2023. About half died. The others are under the care of the marine park, treated and monitored with the hope that they can recover enough to be released in the wild.
There have been 10 rescued birds – nine pelicans and a cormorant. The park was also informed of two dolphins struck, but one of the mammals returned to the water, and the other died during its transport, said Spahr.
Many of the sea lions of patients who have saved along the coast are pregnant. We think they are more sensitive to toxin because they tend to eat more food.
The first animal that entered SeaWorld San Diego showing symptoms of home-in-house intoxication has arrived in mid-February. Over the past 10 days, there has been an increase in calls.
Some animals suffer from convulsions and tremors, while others seem dazed. SeaWorld staff will see if animals react and are interested in food after receiving liquids and medicines over several days, Jeni Smith, rescue program, said. Sometimes too much damage is caused. When animals die, necropsies are made to find out more about what killed them.
Algae flowers are a natural phenomenon and generally occur in spring and summer. The algae can flourish during the Hauts-Puits, when the winds blow from north to south along the coast, pushing the water of the shore and bringing deep water rich in nutrients to the surface.
“During a given year, when the upwelling occurs, a number of plankton can answer. Pseudo-Nitzschia is a type of plankton that easily responds to upwelling,” said Clarissa Anderson, a biological oceanograph and expert in Algal harm in the Institution of Oceanography scripps in UC San Diego.
Scientists say that the flowering of algae has emerged earlier this year than certain previous epidemics of domoic acid and has so far had an impact on marine animals between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.
There have been more than 100 dolphins in southern California, affected by the epidemic – much more than in previous events at this stage of the year – with at least 50 dolphins to run it along the beaches of the counties of Santa Barbara and Ventura, and eight dolphins dying on the beaches of San Diego in the last two weeks, according to an update published this week Noaa.
In 2023, more than 1,000 marine lions and more than 100 long -term common dolphins died of domoic acid, Anderson said.
In 2015, the largest flowering of toxic algae never recorded caused massive deadlines from Santa Barbara to Alaska, killing thousands of marine mammals, including sea lions and fins. This is the fourth consecutive year that algae proliferation affects southern California marine life.
“One of the very great predictive difficulties for us is even if we measure Domo acid in the water, we cannot always say which animals will be those that will be affected,” said Anderson. “It turns out that it was in the past four years, he has struck the population of California sea lions much more difficult than other animal populations.”
Unlike the previous three years, this year’s event also seems to have an impact on sea birds, Anderson said.
She said that birds could be more affected because anchovies and other fish on which they feed “drag more on the surface”.
With more deaths reported earlier in the year, the epidemic is on the right track to be severe. “We just have to look to see how serious it becomes,” said Michael Milstein, spokesperson for the Noaa Fisheries.
For the moment, managers warn beach lovers to remain animals in difficulty they find on the beach.
People who see sick or abandoned marine animals are invited to call the Seaworld rescue hotline at 800-541-7325 or send an e-mail to swc.rescue@seaworld.com. Park officials say that calls to other telephone lines or social media platforms are not monitored by animal protection staff and can delay the responses.
They asked the appellants to provide specific information on the animal, including the date and time at which it was found, as well as its specific location as well as details on the symptoms. In addition, photos and videos can be useful, said Spahr.
Spahr urged appellants to be patient – she said that SeaWorld Rescue staff were trying to answer as quickly as possible. “Animals are very important to us, and we try to reach them,” she said.
The photojournalist of the Ana Ramirez staff contributed to this report.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
