Handfuls of sea lions in Southern California are getting sick from domoic acid poisoning, making them "abnormally aggressive" and resulting in recent attacks on beachgoers and surfers.
If you haven't heard of domoic acid, you're not alone.
Here's what happens: The plankton eat algae that contains the acid, and then the fish eat the plankton, and the sea lions eat the fish — one thing surviving off another, passing on the toxic acid.
"So it will affect California sea lions, it has affected dolphins, common dolphins, and that's kind of what we're seeing off our coastline here in San Diego," said Jeni Smith, who's with the Rescue Program at SeaWorld.
"The clinical signs that we're seeing for these animals are seizures. We're seeing them look like they're stargazing. We're seeing some animals seem very, very sleepy, maybe right after having a seizure. They may be abnormally aggressive. They may be in areas they should not be in, so not their normal habitat," said Smith.
Year to date, Smith's team has rescued 15 sea lions.
Rescue call numbers have hovered around 100 calls, which is about five times as much as previous years.
Because of the high numbers, they're asking for help from the locals. There are some things people can do to help create a healthier environment for these animals.
"Simple things that people can do in their daily lives. Throwing away their trash, making sure they're not allowing anything toxic to go down the storm drain, because everything ends up back at the ocean," Smith said. "So a healthy ocean equals healthy animals in the ocean, so the animals are telling us the bigger picture."
If you see an animal who's having a seizure, stargazing or seems very sleepy or are not in their normal habitat, call 1-800-541-SEAL.
Only call the rescue hotline if you've seen the animal in person. It could prolong rescue operations if you call because you've only seen the animal on social media.
This story was originally published by Jane Kim with the Scripps News Group in San Diego.
