Could we see sea lions in San Diego die from toxins?

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A California sea lion, weaving its head back and forth. It is being treated in Sausalito for what’s called domoic acid poisoning.

Officials say this summer, there has been an uptick in cases in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.

“For the last month, this thing has been growing from San Louis Obispo, potentially all the way to San Diego,” said Clarissa Anderson.

Anderson works for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She says the toxin comes from an algae bloom, growing in the ocean.

“It leads to seizures in the brain or respiratory distress. We would experience the same thing if we were eating shellfish with this toxin.”

And she says the animals are getting it from anchovies and the fish they eat. We have also seen several sea lion pups die recently in La Jolla Cove. Anderson says it’s unclear if that’s from the toxins.

“The pups we are hearing about in La Jolla Cove are possibly suffering from the poisoning, but we are going to have to wait and see. There will be recovery efforts and testing,” she added.

Anderson says she and her staff will be monitoring the situation. She is communicating with the California Department of Health and marine mammal rescue organizations.

Officials from Sea World tell us they have rescued two animals in the last two weeks that have symptoms of the toxic poisoning. They saw a larger impact by a bloom last year and San Diego has not been largely impacted, as much as north of Los Angeles has.