Sea Lion Strandings

This season has been pretty typical for sea lion rescues, with most being young pup or juvenile strandings. However, beginning with a call about an adult sea lion suffering from severe seizures, 21 sea lions were found dead within one month and no evident cause. Deaths like this are normally caused by neurotoxins produced during algae blooms, but it was not the season for such an event, and the neuro toxins were not found in high enough levels to be a convincing cause. More tests still have to be conducted to come up with concrete evidence to prove the cause, but researchers are theorizing that the deaths were likely cause due to the recent oil spill or other toxic contaminants being spilled into the ocean. Click here to learn more.