California Algae Bloom Kills And Sickens Hundreds Of Animals

LAGUNA BEACH, CA - APRIL 30: A sea lion, 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, is treated at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center on April 30, 2007 in Laguna Beach, California. About 50 domoic-sickened animals have arrived at the facility and nearly all have died or had to be put down. None have yet shown signs of a possible full recovery. Little that can be done to save them 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)