SAN DIEGO — A toxic algae bloom in coastal waters from San Luis Obispo to San Diego has killed dozens of marine animals, including whales and dolphins, and the area has been labeled an extreme danger zone today by health and environmental groups.
The toxic algae bloom, a product of the neurotoxin domoic acid (DA), has been detected for the fourth consecutive year, and experts are calling this one the worst yet.
“It’s the worst we’ve ever seen here in Southern California on many different fronts, but dolphin strandings, it’s unprecedented,” John Warner, the CEO of the Marine Mammal Care Center in Los Angeles, told KABC.
A map from the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System shows where the high concentration of domoic acid, at the center of the toxic algae bloom, is spreading along the Southern California coast and killing numerous animals.
There have been more than 50 dead and dying dolphins found along the Los Angeles County coast this week. There were 16 discovered in San Diego on Sunday.
Debris from the wildfires and fertilizer runoff are suspected of contributing to the spread of toxic algae. It is eaten by small fish, which are then eaten by marine mammals and birds, leading to potentially deadly overdoses.
Sea lions and birds can be saved, but it is almost always fatal for dolphins.
