As toxic bloom that sickened hundreds of marine mammals fades, some return to ocean
As marine mammal care centers along the Southern California coast come up for air after two months of trying to, their leaders warn the environmental and public safety emergency was a wake-up call for greater collaboration between nonprofits and local municipalities.
A truck arrives with on of two of the sea lions being released back to the ocean in Marina del Rey on Thursday, August 10, 2023. Sea lions that became ill from toxic algae bloom around at LA beaches in early and mid June have now recovered thanks to care at the Marine Mammal Center Los Angeles in San Pedro.
These two sea lions were very vocal as they made their way back to the ocean in Marina del Rey on Thursday, August 10, 2023. Sea lions that became ill from toxic algae bloom around at LA beaches in early and mid June have now recovered thanks to care at the Marine Mammal Center Los Angeles in San Pedro.
Relief has come to the centers in recent days as staff at the MMCLA in San Pedro, the Pacific Marine Mammal Rescue Center in Laguna Beach and the Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute in Santa Barbara County report that animals now found on Southern California beaches no longer seem to suffer from the neurological impairments that was sickening and killing them by the hundreds in June and July.
MMCLA took in 120 live patients and responded to at least double that number. At least 100 animals on the beaches were documented as dead, Warner said. The mortality rate there was about 30%.At PMMC in Laguna Beach, CEO Glenn Gray reported 120 rescues, including 104 sea lions and 11 dolphins; 47 animals were found dying or dead on the beach. PMMC has also started releasing patients and now has a remaining 19 animals in its care, including one elephant seal not suffering from the poison.
The bloom, which is believed to have been spread through poisoned anchovies, was first thought to have started far off the coast. But now Anderson, who has gotten test results back from algae samples taken nearshore that show toxins present off Santa Monica and Newport Beach, said she believes it could have been a combination.
NOAA officials have said this summer’s bloom is the “most severe they’ve seen in a geographic region.
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