California Algae Bloom Kills And Sickens Hundreds Of Animals

LAGUNA BEACH, CA - APRIL 30: A malnourished sea lion pup is held in the nursery of a facility caring for sea lions poisoned by toxic domoic acid, the result of an unusually large bloom of microscopic ocean algae that has sickened and killed California birds, sea lions and dolphins from San Francisco to San Diego, at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center on April 30, 2007 in Laguna Beach, California. These sea lions are part of a group of eight that are still alive out of a total of about 30 that have come in during the past few days. Most the dying adult sea lions are females, leaving behind orphaned pups to die of starvation or predation. Little that can be done to save the sick animals once the toxin causes brain damage. The algae increases, or "blooms", each year as the seasonal ocean water temperature rises. This season, the heaviest bloom in recent years is occurring early and is extremely dense. Birds and sea mammals eat the fish and shellfish that feed on the algae and ingest the toxin as it rises through the food chain. Whales have also been reportedly sickened. Last week, the California Department of Health Services issued a warning not to eat sport-harvested sardines, anchovies, shellfish and sport-harvested or commercially-caught lobster and crab from Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura or Santa Barbara counties in southern California. An outbreak in 2002 and 2003 in San Francisco, California killed or sickened more than a thousand sea lions and 50 dolphins. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)