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By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer
May 2 -- When volunteers last month noticed several
dead seabirds during their annual Earth Day beach clean-up,
scientists with Heal the Bay had little idea it would be just
the start of perhaps the largest cascade of marine deaths
from algae toxins to hit the California coasts in years.
"You know there's an issue when you get as many calls
as we were on this," said Kirsten James, a staff scientist
with the Santa Monica-based environmental non-profit.
While local reports have been mostly of dead seabirds, up
and down the coastline, scientists are reporting sick and
dying birds and mammals, including sea lions and dolphins,
the likely result of demoic acid poisoning, James said.
A 29-foot-long sperm whale washed up dead on an Isla Vista
beach near Santa Barbara on April 29, although the cause of
death is still unknown.
Although the acid is a naturally occurring toxic produced
by a certain type of algae which blooms each spring, James
said this year's bloom may be particularly large.
"It is a lot more profound this year than in previous
years," she said.
James recommended that those who find a sick, disoriented
or dead marine animal should not touch the animal.
"The toxin can poison these animals, sending them into
shock," she said.
Just how sick the animal gets depends on how much demoic
acid it has been exposed to. Domoic acid collects in shellfish
and fish and is then passed on to the birds and animals that
eat them, according to scientists.
The state of California also issued a warning to avoid eating
sport-harvested shellfish, sardines, anchovies, lobsters and
crabs caught off the coast between Santa Barbara and Orange
County.
Pet owners should also avoid feeding the products to their
animals, the state Department of Health Services said.
James said there are no known cases on the West Coast of
the acid harming humans and that generally the bloom is further
away from the California shoreline.
Why there is such a large bloom this year is still being
debated in scientific circles, James said.
"Scientists haven't come together on that," she
said.
While James said the poisoning could be "part of natural
systems," she noted that it could also be attributed
to global climate changes warming the oceans or excess nutrients
from agriculture finding their way to the sea.
James noted that this algae bloom is not considered a "red
tide," which can also produce a different toxin that
kills marine life.
"Red tide" blooms commonly happen at the end of
summer, she said.
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