marine mammals • News January 2021

Alaska marine mammals are found with harmful algae toxins, in a research conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, along with other environmental agencies between 2004 and 2013.

Their results are troubling, to say the least. As it turns out, there are 13 species of marine mammals residing on the Alaskan coast, which present natural poisoning substances coming from harmful algae.

According to experts, these toxins could increase as the water temperatures get higher and the sea continues to melt, which creates a more favorable environment for these substances to develop.

In order to conduct their research, the scientists hunted, captured and stranded over 900 marine mammals. They then examined the animals’ stomach content, urine and feces in the search of two types of toxins.

The test results revealed that 10 out of the 13 species analyzed presented a substance called Saxitoxin, while Domoic acid was found in all the mammals examined. An intriguing fact is that pacific walruses presented the highest level of both toxins discovered.

Ever since 1998, there has been a large number of deaths among sea lions found in Central California, due to an increased level of algal toxin. Serious health concerns started to appear after this, with people wondering whether it is still safe for humans to consume clams.

According to Kathi Lefebvre, research biologist at the NOAA, this is the first extensive research on toxic algae ever conducted north of the Arctic Circle.

Algae are a type of organisms that float in the water and are carried away by ocean currents. When they become harmful, they grow very quickly, splitting up and creating dense blooms. This is a very dangerous phenomenon, seeing how these organisms are commonly eaten by zooplankton, clams and shellfish, among others.

These filter feeders are, in turn, eaten by seals, polar bears and other marine mammals, thus transmitting the toxicity even further.

While researchers are confident that these toxins do not represent a health risk for humans, they could not say whether they would cause an impact for the marine animals that they tested.

They were also unable to conclude whether these toxins are indeed related to the marine mammal deaths from 2015, when 30 whales were found on the shores of Alaska.

Alaska is home to a wide variety of marine mammals, ranging from polar bears, beluga whales, sea otters, porpoises, dolphins and many more.

Image Source: Ktoo.org

This Guadalupe fur seal pup was a patient of the Marine Mammal Center. Guadalupe fur seals have been stranding on the California coast in unusual numbers this year. For over half of the marine mammals, this led to their death.

Guadalupe fur seals have been stranding on the California coast in unusual numbers this year. For over half of the marine mammals, this led to their death.

As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization (NOAA) declared the puzzling event an ‘unusual mortality event’, other federal organizations and institutions are trying to take the challenge of saving as many Guadalupe fur seals as possible.

Since January, federal officials have counted 80 Guadalupe fur seals stranded along the California Coast. Of them, 42 were dead when rescue teams reached the shore. Of the 38 which were retrieved, only 16 remained alive and could be reintegrated in their natural habitat.

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center is among the actors that are raising up to the challenge. When a similar mortality event was declared in the case of sea lions in 2013, members of the Center helped with the rescuing and reintegration efforts.

According to Keith Matassa, the director of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, Orange County is ready to do its best to save the Guadalupe fur seals from certain death. While 80 of the marine mammals being stranded on the California coast might not seem like such an alarm signal, it should. The species in endangered and during the 1800s it was on the brink of extinction.

Now, experts count that approximately 15,000 individuals of this rare species are still alive.

“There is a chance, that’s why we’re preparing. If we did get some, as they are an endangered species, they would be transferred to Sea World’s Rehabilitation Center”,

stated Matassa.

At Sea World, the Guadalupe fur seals would receive prime care. The majority of the seals found on shore were emaciated. Death by starvation once they are stranded on the coast is almost a certainty if they are not retrieved timely. As such, immediate and attentive care is the Guadalupe fur seals’ only hope for survival.

During a typical year since the records are being kept, the number of stranded Guadalupe fur seals doesn’t exceed 12 on average. These marine mammals breed on the Guadalupe Island, thus their exotic-sounding name. Just off Baja California, the island is home to the species until they venture in the ocean in search for food.

The puzzling mortality event declared by the NOAA might be partly explained precisely by the feedstock availability. As the warm blob advances and disrupts marine wildlife across global oceans and Pacific Ocean, some fish are pushed further north or on unusual migration patterns.

The global warming of seawater is disrupting marine ecosystems, in some cases leading to high mortality events. As is the case with the Guadalupe fur seals. Pushed ashore after already starving, they can’t find food and die.

Of the 80 Guadalupe fur seals found this year, the majority were pups, according to Justin Viezbiecke, the coordinator of the West Coast marine mammal stranding department for NOAA Fisheries.

Photo Credits: Flickr

Alaska Marine Mammals Are Found with Harmful Algae Toxins

Guadalupe Fur Seals Raise Alarm at Federal Level

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