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Dolphins seals and sealions infected with domoic acid toxicity are stranding themselves
By Joe Donatelli, Correspondent - The Inside VC Network
9th May 2003
In what is becoming an annual occurrence, California sea lions, seals and dolphins believed to be infected with domoic acid toxicity are stranding themselves on county beaches.
The mammal beachings began in 1998 and peaked last year when 241 California sea lions and common dolphins appeared on the county's shore. Ventura County Department of Animal Regulation Director Kathy Jenks said that at least 50 mammals have beached themselves in the last week.
Domoic acid toxicity is a naturally occurring biotoxin released in algae blooms. Fish that eat the algae do not get sick. But mammals and birds that eat the infected fish are exposed to the toxins, said wildlife biologist Joe Cordaro of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries in Long Beach.
Cordaro has not received a positive test result yet for domoic acid toxicity but said that judging by the symptoms there is little doubt he will.
"We still really don't know why this is happening now," Jenks said. "Maybe it has happened in years past in lower numbers. We don't know."
State and local public health officials are warning the public not to move the mammals, which can come ashore comatose, in seizure or dead. Though domoic acid toxicity is not contagious, the mammals still pose a risk to humans.
"There are many diseases people can pick up from handling them," Jenks said. "Not to mention the nasty bite you might receive."
People are urged to keep their dogs away from beached mammals as well.
Anyone finding a stranded mammal should call the Department of Animal Regulation at 388-4341. The county will then dispatch staff members or volunteers to monitor the animal for 48 hours. If the animal is dead or comatose after that period, it will be buried. If alive, it is taken to the Fort MacArthur Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro.
Jenks said a local woman who found a stranded sea lion pup Wednesday did it a great disservice when she brought it home and then took it to a veterinarian. The veterinarian called county officials, who transported it to Fort MacArthur.
"Sometimes mothers will put pups on the beach and come back, but now we'll never be able to locate that mother," Jenks said. "Odds are, the mother would have been back."
The state also is taking action on domoic acid toxicity. On Thursday, public health officials renewed the annual quarantine on sport-harvested mussels, which is in effect until Oct. 31.
This quarantine affects all species of mussels taken by the public anywhere on the California coast, including bays and estuaries.
"This statewide mussel quarantine is intended to prevent paralytic shellfish poisoning and domoic acid poisoning," State Health Director Diana M. Bonta said in a release. "The overwhelming majority of human cases of PSP illnesses occur between spring and fall. To date, no cases of human poisoning from DAP are known to have occurred in California."
For updated information on quarantines and shellfish toxins, call the CDHS shellfish information line at (800) 553-4133
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