Coastal Toxin Killing Southern California Wildlife
Turns out it was the domoic-acid poisoning mentioned in yesterday’s post.
Domoic-acid poisoning
Here’s what Earthweek.com had to say:
Recent sightings of sick and dead pelicans, sea lions and dolphins along stretches of the Southern California coast have been linked to increased levels of a toxin in the ocean.
Marine biologists say that domoic acid, which builds up in shellfish and fish during outbreaks of algae bloom known as red tide, is then passed on to the birds and other animals that eat them.
Scientists believe that environmental degradation, such as overfishing, pollution and the destruction of wetlands, is encouraging algae blooms to flourish, creating the toxin.
Pelicans with domoic acid poisoning, which affects the brain, can have seizures while flying. Some poisoned pelicans have literally fallen out of the sky dead, according to the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) in San Pedro.
The center has documented recent cases of pelicans crashing into car windshields and ending up on airport runways and freeways.
IBRRC Director Jay Holcomb says that outbreaks of sick and dead wildlife occur in the area each spring, but this year has been much worse.
Although domoic acid is a naturally occurring toxin produced by microscopic algae, something is making recent blooms of the algae especially virulent.
“I have been doing this work for 35 years and I have never seen anything like this as far as the number of species affected, other than an oil spill,” said Holcomb.
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