Latest news with #PacificMarineMammalCenter
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘Horrific' Scene On The California Coast: Largest Algae Bloom On Record Is Killing Thousands Of Marine Animals
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways Toxic algae blooms along the California coast have been a problem off and on for the past four years, but what's been happening in recent months is unprecedented. This is now one of the largest harmful algae blooms ever recorded in this region and has led to thousands of marine animals and birds becoming sick or dying in recent months. This includes at least two whale species, dolphins, birds and the biggest numbers have been from sea lions. 'It's horrific,' Glenn Gray, CEO of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center (PMMC) told 'The number of dead dolphins we've gotten this year is just off the charts. We're all dealing with numbers within a two-month period of time that would normally represent the number of responses we would make in a year. It's been the worst that's on record in terms of how it's affecting the animals and the different species of animals.' The toxin is called domoic acid poisoning, which is a neurotoxin produced by an algae called Pseudo-nitzschia. It attacks the nervous system of marine life, either killing them, or making them appear disoriented, according to scientists at the PMMC. 'It's like having a seizure,' explained Gray. 'I compare it to a pet having a seizure. It's very similar and heart-wrenching because the sea lions are kind and gentle. They're playing with each other and then the next moment, they're seizing.' Gray explains that if these sea lions seize for more than 30 seconds, there's a good chance they will suffer irreversible damage to their brain. He says they can become unbalanced, and stay very unpredictable and potentially dangerous to others. What's happening is that the domoic acid is collecting in the smaller fish species that the larger animals are feeding on. Scientists have revealed that this toxin is spreading throughout the food web, which is impacting more and more species, including whales. 'Each of these whale deaths is heartbreaking, and also deeply telling,' said Keith Matassa, CEO and Founder of the Ocean Animal Response & Research Alliance (OARRA). 'Whales are sentinels of ocean health, and their suffering signals a larger ecological imbalance driven by intensifying harmful algal blooms. These events are no longer isolated, they're increasing in scope, scale, frequency, and severity.' Recent California Wildfires Possibly Played A Role While no official scientific studies have been completed yet, the recent wildfires, including the Palisades Fire, could be contributing to the toxins. The fire burned more than 23,000 acres and destroyed nearly 7,000 structures. Scientists are currently investigating whether the fire retardant used to fight the fires could be contributing to the magnitude of this algae bloom. 'The toxic algae is essentially fed by pollution,' explained Gray. 'If you look at the fire retardant, the pink substance that was dumped, the two active ingredients of that are water and fertilizer.' Shortly after the fires, atmospheric river conditions brought a lot of rain, and scientists are concerned that all the nutrient fertilizer that ran off into the ocean is a contributing factor. They are also looking into what negative contributions the runoff of charred debris may have had as well. 'We're running from daylight to sunset, from one end of the county to the other," said Gray. 'It's just been crazy with respect to the number of animals we have in our hospital. Our staff and our volunteers are putting in 14-18 hour days.' What To Do If You Encounter A Sick Marine Animal Algae blooms have been more frequent and more severe in the last few decades, because of warmer ocean temperatures being driven by climate change. But added pollutants only exacerbate the situation. And while marine life is at the mercy of Mother Nature as to when this bloom will weaken, scientists worry about the impacts of this dragging out much longer. 'I'm worried that if this continues all the way through June as the last one did, there's just gonna be a lot more fatalities,' said Gray. NOAA fisheries and their network rely on the public as its eyes and ears, urging beachgoers and others to report stranded animals to the Network hotline at 866-767-6114. The PMMC says beachgoers should also make sure to stay clear of stranded animals and keep their pets away from marine mammals. These animals can bite and may carry diseases that may be harmful to humans and pets. Jennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.
Los Angeles Times
14-04-2025
- Science
- Los Angeles Times
Mystery deepens as dead whale washes ashore in Huntington Beach
A dead 50-foot gray whale washed ashore in Huntington Beach on Friday, according to officials with the Pacific Marine Mammal Center. The cause of death of the young adult female is not yet known, said Glenn Gray, chief executive of the Laguna Beach-based nonprofit. Employees of the center performed a necropsy of the body on Saturday morning. The whale had no signs of physical injury, Gray said. Such marks are typically seen if a whale is struck by a boat, bitten by a shark or entangled in fishing gear. Samples from the body have been sent to a lab for testing. 'It may take a couple weeks,' he said. 'We'll share with the public what we know.' Scientists say gray whales have been dying in large numbers this year. At least 70 whales have died since the beginning of the year in the lagoons of Baja California in Mexico, where they go in the winter, according to Steven Swartz, a marine scientist who studies gray whales. The whales are now headed north to their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. In recent weeks, three gray whales have died in San Francisco Bay. Researchers aren't sure why higher numbers of whales are dying. The bodies of some of the dead whales have appeared depleted and malnourished, leading some scientists to believe the problem could be a lack of food. Alisa Schulman-Janiger, who has led the Los Angeles chapter of the American Cetacean Society's gray whale census at Rancho Palos Verdes since 1979, said the number of whales she and her volunteers have observed migrating north this spring and swimming south this past winter is the lowest on record. Earlier this month, a minke whale that spent days swimming in Long Beach Harbor died, despite efforts by marine wildlife experts to reroute it back to deeper waters. Investigators with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were trying to determine what caused the minke whale's death.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mystery deepens as another dead whale washes ashore in Southern California
A dead 50-foot gray whale washed ashore in Huntington Beach on Friday, according to officials with the Pacific Marine Mammal Center. The cause of death of the young adult female is not yet known, said Glenn Gray, chief executive of the Laguna Beach-based nonprofit. Employees of the center performed a necropsy of the body on Saturday morning. The whale had no signs of physical injury, Gray said. Such marks are typically seen if a whale is struck by a boat, bitten by a shark or entangled in fishing gear. Read more: Gray whales are dying off the Pacific Coast again, and scientists aren't sure why Samples from the body have been sent to a lab for testing. 'It may take a couple weeks,' he said. 'We'll share with the public what we know.' Scientists say gray whales have been dying in large numbers this year. At least 70 whales have died since the beginning of the year in the lagoons of Baja California in Mexico, where they go in the winter, according to Steven Swartz, a marine scientist who studies gray whales. The whales are now headed north to their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. Read more: Minke whale that spent several days in Long Beach Harbor has died, officials say In recent weeks, three gray whales have died in San Francisco Bay. Researchers aren't sure why higher numbers of whales are dying. The bodies of some of the dead whales have appeared depleted and malnourished, leading some scientists to believe the problem could be a lack of food. Alisa Schulman-Janiger, who has led the Los Angeles chapter of the American Cetacean Society's gray whale census at Rancho Palos Verdes since 1979, said the number of whales she and her volunteers have observed migrating north this spring and swimming south this past winter is the lowest on record. Earlier this month, a minke whale that spent days swimming in Long Beach Harbor died — despite efforts by marine wildlife experts to reroute it back to deeper waters. Investigators with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were trying to determine what caused the minke whale's death. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
12-04-2025
- Science
- Los Angeles Times
Mystery deepens as another dead whale washes ashore in Southern California
A dead 50-foot gray whale washed ashore in Huntington Beach on Friday, according to officials with the Pacific Marine Mammal Center. The cause of death of the young adult female is not yet known, said Glenn Gray, chief executive of the Laguna Beach-based nonprofit. Employees of the center performed a necropsy of the body on Saturday morning. The whale had no signs of physical injury, Gray said. Such marks are typically seen if a whale is struck by a boat, bitten by a shark or entangled in fishing gear. Samples from the body have been sent to a lab for testing. 'It may take a couple weeks,' he said. 'We'll share with the public what we know.' Scientists say gray whales have been dying in large numbers this year. At least 70 whales have died since the beginning of the year in the lagoons of Baja California in Mexico, where they go in the winter, according to Steven Swartz, a marine scientist who studies gray whales. The whales are now headed north to their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. In recent weeks, three gray whales have died in San Francisco Bay. Researchers aren't sure why higher numbers of whales are dying. The bodies of some of the dead whales have appeared depleted and malnourished, leading some scientists to believe the problem could be a lack of food. Alisa Schulman-Janiger, who has led the Los Angeles chapter of the American Cetacean Society's gray whale census at Rancho Palos Verdes since 1979, said the number of whales she and her volunteers have observed migrating north this spring and swimming south this past winter is the lowest on record. Earlier this month, a minke whale that spent days swimming in Long Beach Harbor died — despite efforts by marine wildlife experts to reroute it back to deeper waters. Investigators with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were trying to determine what caused the minke whale's death.
Los Angeles Times
31-01-2025
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Blunt-force trauma found on humpback whale that washed up in Huntington Beach
A collision with an ocean vessel may have been what killed a humpback whale that washed ashore in Huntington Beach last week, according to officials with the Pacific Marine Mammal Center. The body of the 26-foot long, 2- to 3-year-old female was initially spotted at the site of a blue mussel farm in federal waters off the coast of Huntington Beach on the evening of Thursday, Jan. 23, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Spokesman Nick Rahaim said in a statement. It was pushed off of aquaculture equipment and eventually drifted onto the sand Saturday morning. Biologists with NOAA's West Coast stranding Network, Laguna Beach-based Pacific Marine Mammal Center and the Ocean Animal Response and Research Alliance in Los Angeles examined the whale. They found significant blunt-force trauma on the right side of her head that suggests she might have been hit by a boat. Humpback whales are known for leaping from the water and crashing down on their bellies. They are found in all of the world's oceans and are known to migrate great distances. Crashes with boats are one of the major causes of death for humpback and many other species of whales, Pacific Marine Mammal Center officials said in a statement. Others, like entanglement in fishing equipment and pollution, are also related to human activities. Their population dwindled by as much as 95% of historically recorded figures before a moratorium on commercial whaling went into place in 1985. That as well as their addition to the endangered species list in the 1970s have been pivotal in a steady recovery in their numbers over the decades. It's typically rare for whales to become stranded on dry land, but at least one other has been reported in California so far this year. The body of a gray whale appeared on Oso Flaco Beach in San Luis Obispo County on Jan. 19. And a collision with a vessel may have been what killed a young fin whale that washed ashore on Ten Mile Beach in Mendocino County in September. Elsewhere, as many as six whales — including three humpbacks — became stranded on the south shore of Massachusetts within a six-month period. And on the other side of the Atlantic, an entire pod of 77 pilot whales washed up on a beach in Orkney off the northeastern coast of Scotland, one of the largest mass strandings recorded in decades. Biologists collected samples from the whale found in Huntington Beach before crews cleared it from the beach. Further analysis will be performed, and researchers plan on issuing a complete report at a later date.
