VENTURA, Calif.—Fred Gray says he was heartbroken to see a baby whale wash ashore during his visit to Morro Bay last year. “I was hoping, you know, that the baby whale had a good life, you know, and it didn't suffer,” said the Ventura native. This year many visitors to California beaches are having similar experiences. Sky5 footage from KTLA shows a dead humpback whale on a Ventura County beach Friday. Dead whales were also spotted in LA and Orange counties., and even as far north as San Francisco. Marine mammal rescue groups and scientists say that high levels of Domoic acid, a naturally occurring toxin produce by algae blooms are causing the deaths. “The fish eat the red algae and then the birds, the seals, dolphins, things like that. They eat the fish and it has a neurotoxin that causes them to become disoriented. And then they have seizures,” said Steven Dishman, who lives in Oxnard.
And it’s not just whales. The surfers we spoke to have seen dolphins, seal lions, and even pelicans getting sick. “I was just walking to go surfing and somebody comes up to and he's like, my friend got bit by a seal. He's like, Be careful, there's one out there…What really surprised me is at Rincon Point, I saw a couple of dead dolphins and I was really surprised. That's rare,” said Ventura surfer Bart Williams.
Researchers at Scripps Oceanography say this is the fourth year in a row we've seen a toxic algae bloom off California's coast. This year's might be the worst one yet. “This is the worst overcast bloom we have ever seen in Southern California. The amount of animals suffering and strandings that we're seeing related to this bloom is absolutely heartbreaking,” said Pacific Marine Mammal Center Veterinarian Dr. Alissa Deming.
Now that the cause of these deaths is known, locals are hopeful that organizations will be able to step in and help reverse this new trend.
Marine animals wash up dead in Ventura County, locals react News Channel 3-12.
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