– ‘Marine Mystery’ in California: “Toxic outbreak threatening marine life” — Birds falling from sky, sea lions convulsing — “Worst they’ve ever seen” — Toxin hits record level, almost 1,000% above gov’t limit — Heart lesions, severe shrinking in part of brain, nervous system failure (VIDEO) (ENENews, May 3, 2014):
Santa Cruz Sentinel, May 2, 2014: State health warnings over shellfish, anchovies and sardines are highlighting a marine mystery […] what’s behind a toxic outbreak threatening marine life? […] Researchers in the relatively new area of study say the problem is the worst they have ever seen. [Though the] toxin likely has always been part of the ecosystem, the threat appears to be growing. […] results of late are the highest ever […] sea lions affected by domoic acid show a severely shrunken hippocampus [and] lesions on the hearts and brains […] the mystery behind why and when it happens remains largely unsolved […]
Tenaya Norris, Marine Mammal Center: “We don’t know why these algae produce these toxins […] They can be in the water and not producing this toxin, and they can be out in the water and raging.”
Raphael Kudela, UCSC marine ecologist: ”There is some evidence that there are more events of larger magnitude […] it really affects sea otters.”
Rebecca Dmytryk, Wildlife Emergency Services: “We’ve literally had them drop from the sky.”
KION, Apr. 28, 2014: Sea lions found sick and convulsing off Monterey Bay coast […] now researchers say there may be some indication that humans may also be causing domoic acid to be produced in higher concentrations […] At least 35 sick sea lions were found stranded on the Monterey Bay. They were convulsing with seizure-like symptoms. […]
KION, Apr. 14, 2014: [The state] began seeing low levels of demoic acid in the fish in mid-March and 2 days ago noticed it increased to almost 10 times higher than federal regulations.
KSBW, Apr. 30, 2014: Toxic algae blooms killing sea birds, threaten humans — A new health warning has been issued urging people to not eat certain parts of anchovy, sardines, or crab caught in the Monterey Bay. [It’s causing seabirds’] nervous systems to fail. […] the state public health department issued a warning not to eat recreationally harvested shellfish […] from the Monterey Bay. On Monday, officials issued an update advising consumers not to eat the internal organs of commercially or recreationally caught anchovy, sardines or crab […] Typically the toxic algae blooms only last a week or two but the latest one has lasted all month […]
Watch the KSBW broadcast here
Related info:
– SF Chronicle: ‘Unbelievable hordes’ of fish near California coast; Most birds, sea lions, dolphins, whales anywhere – Expert: ‘Off the charts’ pelican population ‘highly unusual… could reflect breeding failures elsewhere’
– NBC: Record level of sick or injured California seals and sea lions turning up – ‘The numbers are extraordinary’ – ‘Scientists worried… The worst kind of perfect storm’ – Pups should be weighing 2 or 3 times as much, ‘severely malnourished’
– Experts: Sea Stars Decimated On West Coast – Population Ravaged As Mystery Disease Spreads South, ‘Gone From 100s To ZERO …’
– ‘Ultra-Rare’: Up To 70 Endangered False Killer Whales By California Coast
– Head Of Radiation Testing Program On West Coast: Fukushima Plume Could Threaten Ecosystems … Whatever Is In The Kelp Will Get In Bodies Of Those Animals Also
– Fukushima Explains Unprecedented Concentrations Of Whales And Other Sea Life Clustered Just Off West Coast
– US Gov’t: Scientists investigating if Fukushima radiation contributed to unusual deaths and sickness in marine mammals – Expect ‘hairless seals’ this spring
– Massive Die-Off Of Oysters And Scallops In Pacific Northwest: ‘Millions Of Shellfish Dying’ – ‘By July Mortality Hit 95 To 100 Percent’
– 60 Bald Eagles Dead In Utah Since December (Not From West Nile Virus) (See related article below.)
– More Than 400 Dead Dolphins Found In Northern Peru
– Hawaii: More Than 500 Deep-Sea Lanternfish, Squid Found Dead Or Dying
– West Coast Sea Stars Melt Into Mush, ‘Just Vaporized … It’s The Change Of My Lifetime’ – ‘Ripping Themselves Apart … Innards Spilled Out’
– Alaska Professor: Fukushima Fallout A Suspected Factor In ‘Unusual Mortality’ Of Seals And Walrus
– Conditions Never Seen Before By Scientists In Pacific Seals And Walrus – Thyroid Cysts, Lesions Of Reproductive System, Retained Placenta
– Reports: White ‘goo’ everywhere in Alaska seal, crows won’t touch it… yet they eat people’s roofs — Slime in ones mouth, kidney almost black
– Problems with killer whales local to West Coast — Only baby born in 2013 died — Just two born in 2012 — Depleted fish supply blamed
– Conjoined Baby Gray Whales Found On West Coast Of N. America – Could Be First Ever Recorded — 2 Heads And 2 Tails, Joined In Middle (Video & Photo)
– L.A. Times: Alarming West Coast sardine crash likely radiating through ecosystem — Experts warn marine mammals and seabirds are starving, may suffer for years to come — Boats return without a single fish — Monterey Bay: Hard to resist idea that humpback whales are trying to tell us something
– ‘We see radiation from Fukushima in soils in Southern California, especially our desert regions’ – High concentrations in seaweed prevented harvest this year — Also found in cattle and chicken feed
– Scientists: Starfish Wasting Disease Outbreak Could Be Due To Fukushima Radiation
– LA Times: Experts suggest bald eagle deaths are related to Fukushima radiation – Idaho officials reporting similar sickness – ‘It’s hard to have your national bird in your arms, going through seizures’
– Unprecedented Decline In Alaska King Salmon
– Mystery Illness Killing Bald Eagles In Western U.S. – Wings Paralyzed, Full Blown Seizures
– Pelicans Starving In Pacific Northwest Since 2011, Killing Baby Birds For Food – ‘Sardine Crash’ Persists In Pacific Since Decline In 2011
– ‘Unprecedented Activity’ Near Canada’s West Coast: Whales In Record Numbers, Displaying Highly Unusual Behavior
– Marine Biologist: All Sea Stars Along West Coast Of North America Could Be Wiped Out
– Large Die-Off Of Alaska Seabirds From Disease Never Found Before In State History
– CNN: The Pacific Has Seen Its Fair Share Of Weird Recently – Bay In California ‘Now A Massive Soup Bowl’ – ‘Miles Of Anchovies, Mountains Deep’
– Study: Dead Sea Creatures Covered 98% Of Seafloor Last Year 150 Miles Off California Coast – Unprecedented!!!
– Weird Things’ Happening On California Coast: Unknown Toxic Algae Blooms Proliferating; Unprecedented Mass Of Oxygen-Poor Water – Mystery Strandings Of Large Squid Covered Miles And Experts Baffled … ‘Essentially Killing Themselves’
– San Francisco Chronicle: Fukushima Radiation Possible Culprit In Huge Starfish Die Off From Mexico To Alaska
– California: Threat Of ‘Dead Zone’ Developing Off Sonoma Coast
– Sea Star Die-Off Worse Than Thought; Now Over Entire West Coast; Going From One Species To Others
– Whale Expert Near Vancouver: In 30 Years I’ve Never Ever Seen This Kind Of Behavior, ‘They Must Sense This Is A Safe Place To Be’
– NBC Nightly News: “Another highly troubling report about what’s going on in the Pacific” — Millions of starfish ‘melt away’ from Alaska to California — Expert: Fukushima radiation ‘not ruled out’ as factor in epidemic — Very, very different than anything seen before
– CBS News: 100s Of Whales In Bay On California Coast – Experts: ‘A Once-In-A-Lifetime Chance … Unheard Of, It’s Unbelievable’
– Expansive ‘Death Zone’ Of Birds On Alaska Island, Perhaps Thousands Washed Ashore
– CBC News: Something Very Odd Is Happening In Pacific; Sea Creatures Acting Strangely
– Rarely Seen Sea Creature Normally Living At The Depths Of The Ocean Caught Off Miami Beach
– Unprecedented Concentration Of Sea Creatures Near Shore In California
– ‘Lots Of Sea Birds Washing Up Dead’ In Alaska (Photos)
– Alaska Island Shows Impacts From Fukushima – ‘Significant Cesium Isotope Signature’ Detected – Scientists Anticipate More Marine Life To Be Impacted As Ocean Plume Arrives
– Hundreds Of Sea Turtles Wash Up Dead On Pacific Coast – Dogs ‘Stopped Breathing And Died Almost Instantly’ When Eating Them
– Scientists ‘Especially Worried’: ‘We Don’t Know How The Pathogen Is Doing This’ – Sea Star Broke In Half, Walked Away, Then Turned To Goo
– Starfish Turn To ‘Slime’ Along Pacific Coast … ‘We’re Talking About A Loss Of Millions And Millions’
– Fishermen Boats Surrounded By Hundreds Of Dead (Nearly Extinct) Eastern Pacific Green Sea Turtles
– (UPDATED) ‘Extraordinary’ string of whale and dolphin encounters off Canada’s Pacific coast “could have a deeper meaning” — Indigenous Academic Adviser: “We see them as our relatives, as ancestors… It’s for the better of all of us to listen” (VIDEO)
– Sea Star ‘Ripping Itself Into Pieces’ – Like A Horror Movie – AP: Deaths From Alaska To S. California – Prof: ‘None Of Us Had Ever Seen Anything Like This Before’
– Sardine Population Plummets Along U.S. West Coast – ‘Canadian Pacific Fishermen Catch No Sardines In 2013? – AP: Collapse Of Species Feared
– West Coast Sea Stars Mysteriously Dying Off (KING 5 News Video): ‘Why Scientists Are So Concerned About The Rapidly Spreading Disease’
– Something Is Killing Life All Over The Pacific Ocean
– Head Researcher “Is Sounding The Alarm’ Over Dramatic Changes In Pacific Northwest Killer Whales
– 28 Signs That The West Coast Is Being Absolutely Fried With Nuclear Radiation From Fukushima
– The Pacific Is Broken: ‘After We Left Japan, It Felt As If The Ocean itself Was Dead’ – ‘I’m Used To Seeing Turtles, Dolphins, Sharks And Big Flurries Of Feeding Birds’ – ‘But This Time For 3000 Nautical Miles There Was Nothing Alive To Be Seen’
