For California marine mammals, toxic algae bloom is a mass casualty incident
As peak beach season and the Fourth of July holiday approach, California officials and experts are warning about an unprecedented die-off of sea lions.
Visitors seeking lighthearted views of sea life along Southern California's coastline are instead coming upon marine mammals taking their final breaths.
As peak beach season and the Fourth of July holiday approach, California officials and experts are warning about an unprecedented die-off of sea lions.
The likely cause, domoic acid from an offshore algae bloom, is not unusual. But the breadth of the poisoning, which can cause brain damage, seizures and death in sea lions, is rare, experts say.
A sea lion rests on Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco in 2013.Don Emmert / AFP via Getty Images fileJohn Warner, the CEO of the Marine Mammal Care Center, a nonprofit rescue organization that serves Los Angeles County, said the facility was at capacity, with nearly 70 sea lions on site. Another 70 along the Los Angeles coast still needed rescuing, he said.
"From our experience in L.A. County, this is one of the worst years in recent memory," Warner said.
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