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 Mysterious illness kills sea lions on Oregon beaches Biologists wonder whether the occurrence is related to a recent episode of domoic acid poisoning on the California littoral Friday, November 13, 1998 By John Griffith, Correspondent, The Oregonian
COOS BAY -- A growing number of California sea lions are showing up weak and confused and dying on Oregon beaches.
Scientists have a few of the marine mammal carcasses in cold storage awaiting necropsies.
From Seaside to Brookings, about a dozen are known to have shown up in this weakened condition. Their behavior has marine mammal experts concerned.
"I suspect something strange is going on," says Keith Chandler, director of the Seaside Aquarium and a volunteer on the marine mammal stranding network, authorized through the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Earlier this year, at least 60 California sea lions died in California from domoic acid poisoning, which they apparently got by eating small fish that feed on plankton. Northern Oregon beaches now are closed to clam and mussel harvesting to protect the public from domoic acid.
Besides the strange deaths on Oregon beaches, more sea lions are dying along the West Coast from food shortages because of El Niņo. Death from bacterial infection of leptospirosis also is common this time of year.
However, scientists hope to learn the cause of the current, more unusual Oregon sea lion deaths.
"Is this just the first wave that is going to show us that more and more of these animals are coming because of the food shortage?" said Debbie Duffield, biology professor at Portland State University and marine mammal stranding network coordinator for the north Oregon coast. "Or is this the first wave that's showing us that we've got a toxin spreading along the coast here that's going to be causing more and more problems as it goes?
The behavior of the most recent dying animals is sorrowful and strange. They are lethargic. Some wag their heads and appear to have little control of their flippers. Some twitch. One at Coos Bay moved as if only part of its body was able to respond to brain waves. Some are visibly underweight."
Even dead, seals and sea lions are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The law primarily forbids unauthorized human actions that kill, annoy or cause marine mammals to alter their behavior.
Pets should be kept away from all marine mammals. They especially should not be permitted to get near sea lion carcasses because of leptospirosis contagion, which can kill pets and their owners.
Although the cause of the odd deaths in Oregon is unknown, from May 24 to Oct. 20, 60 California sea lion deaths were attributed to domoic acid in California, mostly near San Luis Obispo. Sick animals there also exhibited strange behavior.
Domoic acid is produced by several specific plankton of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia. It is a natural toxin. Some researchers think it was responsible for the 1961 Monterey Bay, Calif., seabird attack that partly inspired Alfred Hitchcock's chilling movie, "The Birds."
Friday, November 13, 1998
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