Sick Sea Lion Resting Area Opens On Venice Beach Due To Toxic Algae

VENICE, CA — Droves of sick sea lions washing up on shores all across Los Angeles County led officials to open up a sea lion resting zone at Venice Beach Tuesday to help keep the animals safe before they're taken in for treatment.

The Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro has been working round the clock to treat an influx of sea lions who have been infected by a toxic algal bloom, causing the facility to fill up to capacity quickly. Without space left to treat patients, sick sea lions are left lying on beaches across the county.

To minimize harm and keep animals still lying on beaches, the MMCC partnered with County officials to open up a resting area for the sick sea lions at Venice Beach to keep them separate from the massive amounts of people on beaches, MMCC CEO John Warner said.

In this resting zone, staff will monitor and assess the behavior of infected sea lions to keep track of expected symptoms. So far, Warner said there are 12 sea lions in the Venice zone as of Tuesday and teams are hoping to bring more in in the coming days.

As more sea lions are treated at the MMCC, Warner said the hope is that they can be released and space will open up for animals in the resting zone to move to the care center.

"These are all untried, undone before solutions that we're putting into place very quickly and will then assess how they worked so that we have a plan in place for the next time as well," Warner said.

The toxic algal bloom along the coast of Southern California is more widespread than it has been before, affecting an unprecedented span of the coast from the Central Coast down to San Diego according to MMCC Hospital Director Lauren Palmer.

For about two weeks now, sick sea lions have been washing up on shores suffering from the effects of Domoic Acid, which affects the sea lion's brain and changes its behavior and its ability to react in its environment.

Sea lions affected by Domoic Acid can experience dehydration, seizures and even death if left untreated.

One sea lion in care at the MMCC was picked up in Hermosa Beach just after giving birth to a newborn pup. She was found on the shore completely unresponsive and unable to produce the milk needed to nurse her baby.

Palmer said this is not the first time a toxic algal bloom has popped up along the coast of Southern California, but usually the cases are limited to individual towns rather than a large stretch of the coast. The bloom could take anywhere from four to six weeks to go away, Palmer said.

"While the bloom is still in place, the animals would be at risk of becoming re-intoxicated because it's in their food chain, so as long as it exists there, they're at risk for that. We will try to hold on to them as long as we can, given our space capacity," Palmer said.

Currently, the center is holding 113 animals on site with 63 affected by domoic acid. After a recent expansion due to a partnership with LAUSD, an additional six patients were taken in Monday night according to MMCC CEO John Warner.

The space will allow an additional 20 patients to be treated at the MMCC.

See related: Capacity Strained At Care Center Treating Influx Of Sick Sea Lions

Those interested in donating to support the treatment of sick sea lions and research at the MMCC can visit the care center's website.