The article discusses an outbreak of sea lions on California beaches, and over the West Coast, showing up dead on the beach. This is due to an outbreak of a certain harmful algae named pseudo-nitzschia. This algae creates a harmful amino acid that acts as a neurotoxin and thus kills the sea lions. There was a similar outbreak last year, but it wasn’t nearly as bad. This is happening because there are many things that are allowing the harmful algae to flourish, but one of them is the ocean becoming more acidic. The rising acidity creates an environment more suitable for harmful algae to grow.
This is environmental science because the article discusses the many environmental issues that have all contributed to this devastating algae being able to thrive. In addition, with many sea lions dying, this will affect the ecosystem. This was very interesting because of how many sea lions this algae is taking out and algae isn’t something people typically see as deadly. In addition, I wasn’t aware that rising acidity in an environment can better allow harmful algae to grow.
Cleary, M. (2023, June 28). “It gets worse every day”: why are sea lions and dolphins dying along California’s coast? | California | The Guardian. Amp.theguardian.com. https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/28/california-beaches-sea-lions-dolphins-dead
Fascinating. Of course we are studying algae blooms right now in class. I never realized the changing pH has such an impact on algae, but now that I think about it makes total sense (has a big affect on growing food too). So lower pH directly impacts shell fish, but indirectly is affecting mammals too. Do you think that will get people’s attention more? People love dolphins and sea lions, probably more so than clams and oysters.
People do love dolphins and sea lions, so hopefully this very sad situation can lead to some good and more people caring about and realizing how big of an issue this is. Also, in addition to the algae harming sea life, there are also studies that show how there can potentially be algae growth in the future that can directly harm humans, but hopefully, it won’t get to that point. Thank you for the reply!
I really never knew much about algae blooms, I was in marine bio last year but that wasn’t really something we covered. It’s really heartbreaking to see the effect humans are having on marine life.
Couldn’t agree more, it’s truly devastating the amount of damage that humans have caused and will continue to cause. I also didn’t realize how harmful algae blooms are, and even past this specific story, ocean acidification can actually cause algae types to flourish that are harmful to humans as well as sea life.
It is definitely surprising to see the affect algae can have a big population. The ocean becoming more acidic is a major issue which is happening because of air pollution. This should be a warning that we need to make a change. What should the first act to stop this algae growth/acidification be?
I think the only thing that we can really do is reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which unfortunately for normal citizens, reducing greenhouse gas emissions is really something that needs to be solved through policy at a federal level.
it is astonishing to see the influence green growth can have a major populace. The sea turning out to be more acidic is a significant issue which is occurring a direct result of air contamination. This should be an advance notice that we want to roll out an improvement.
Absolutely, many issues are really piling on one another to create so many issues worse. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions would not only contribute to less air contamination, but it would also help the ocean to become less acidic.
Before reading this I never thought that this problem was as bad as it is. This is crazy to hear about especially how it affects our wildlife the way it does. I never thought that the pH had such an impact on the animals this way. It’s sad how it causes animals to die leaving them on the beach on the shore.
It is really sad to see house the rising acidicity can cause so many issues for so many animals and ecosystems. I was aware of how the rising pH can harm corals and animals that rely on coral, but I had no idea that it contributes to algae growth which can harm animals like sea lions. It’s all interesting, but obviously very sad to see the effects.