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<v Speaker 1>Okay, let's say good morning now to Dave Bader at

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<v Speaker 1>the Marine Mammal Care Center. Good morning, Dave, Good morning,

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<v Speaker 1>So thanks so much for taking some time to talk

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<v Speaker 1>to us today. This is just so heartbreaking to see

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<v Speaker 1>what's going on that there are all these sick animals.

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<v Speaker 1>So I wanted to go back, tell us what's going

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<v Speaker 1>on that's making these animals sick, and then we'll talk

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<v Speaker 1>about what we do when we encounter them.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, thank you. We have a harmful algabum that's off

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<v Speaker 2>the coast of Los Angeles right now, actually southern California.

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<v Speaker 2>It's producing a neurotoxin that builds up in the food chain,

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<v Speaker 2>gets into dolphins, sea lions and seabirds, causes some really

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<v Speaker 2>bad symptoms, causes seizures, aggressive behavior, lethargy. The animals are

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<v Speaker 2>showing up in places where they normally don't show up,

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<v Speaker 2>and we have a lot of them out there right now.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, and that includes we heard about a surfer being

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<v Speaker 1>a off the coast of I believe Oxnard over the weekend,

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<v Speaker 1>and they're saying that they're attributing that and it's not

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<v Speaker 1>bit by a shark but bit by a sea lion.

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<v Speaker 1>They're attributing that to the toxin.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you can have aggressive behavior. It's a neurotoxin, so

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<v Speaker 2>it affects their brain. That the animals are not intentionally

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<v Speaker 2>being aggressive or anything like that, but they're really sick.

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<v Speaker 2>And it's really important for everybody, and given that news

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<v Speaker 2>as well, that we stay at least fifty feet away

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<v Speaker 2>from any marine mammal that we see on the beach,

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<v Speaker 2>be it a dolphin or a sea lion, and make

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<v Speaker 2>sure you call your local stranding authority to be able

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<v Speaker 2>to respond to that animal. For us here in Los Angeles,

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<v Speaker 2>that would be eight hundred and three nine whale. And

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<v Speaker 2>we also have people are calling the Pinniped Control. They're

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<v Speaker 2>volunteers for the Marine Mammal Care Center that are out

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<v Speaker 2>on the beaches helping out our responders and helping keep

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<v Speaker 2>people safe and helping to keep the animal safe as well.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, and now you mentioned a sea lion, which might

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<v Speaker 1>not be as surprising to see a sea lion up

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<v Speaker 1>on the beach as it would be a dolphin.

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<v Speaker 2>And yeah, is there no sorry, Yeah, we're seeing sea

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<v Speaker 2>lions in places along our beaches that they're normally not seen,

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<v Speaker 2>right like right in the middle of you know, some

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<v Speaker 2>of our busiest beaches where you know, you might see

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<v Speaker 2>them in Redondo Beach or King Harbor, on the buoys

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<v Speaker 2>and the docks, but not not on our city beaches.

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<v Speaker 2>And dolphins as well. They're showing up unfortunately, way too many.

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<v Speaker 2>And when dolphins strand, they're really unlikely to survive. Many

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<v Speaker 2>of them have shown up already to cease.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, and then what now, what about the sea lions?

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<v Speaker 1>Can you treat them?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah? When we get a chance to rescue the sea lions,

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<v Speaker 2>we bring them back to our center. We give them

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<v Speaker 2>fluids to help to keep them hydrated as well as

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<v Speaker 2>wash out any of the toxin that is still remaining.

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<v Speaker 2>We can give them anti seizure medicines and sedation helps

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<v Speaker 2>to keep them calm and RESTful while they're recovering. There's

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<v Speaker 2>no anti toxin unfortunately, so the best we can do

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<v Speaker 2>is take care of their symptoms and after a little while,

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<v Speaker 2>the talksin kind of works its way out of their

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<v Speaker 2>system and we're able to start to give them clean food,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, all of the medicines they need, and then

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<v Speaker 2>hopefully get a chance to release them in the end.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, but with the dolphins, it's a different story because,

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<v Speaker 1>like you said, by the time they beach themselves, they're

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<v Speaker 1>probably too far gone.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, dolphins, if they're sick, they're sick at sea. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>they don't come to shore ever, and so if one

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<v Speaker 2>should should be so sick, it winds up on the shore.

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<v Speaker 2>It's on its way. Okay.

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<v Speaker 1>And then Dave, how long are we expecting this to last?

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<v Speaker 1>And is it a naturally occurring thing or is there

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<v Speaker 1>something going on that's causing it.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, these blooms usually last anywhere between six to eight weeks.

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<v Speaker 2>We're probably around about four weeks right now, so we

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<v Speaker 2>have a number of weeks left to go. It seems

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<v Speaker 2>not to be dissipating at all. These blooms. While the

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<v Speaker 2>algae itself is naturally occurring, they usually only would occur

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<v Speaker 2>every so often, maybe every four to seven years. We're

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<v Speaker 2>seeing back to back to back blooms. Last four years

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<v Speaker 2>we've had an algal bloom of this type and almost

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<v Speaker 2>this intensity, and that's not normal. We see that because

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<v Speaker 2>of climate change, ocean acidification, nutrification of our coastal ocean,

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<v Speaker 2>we're creating conditions that are favorable for harmful alga blooms.

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<v Speaker 2>In our case, it's been the last four years and

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<v Speaker 2>that's really unprecedented.

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<v Speaker 1>Is there anything we can do or is it just

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<v Speaker 1>that's the way it is now because of climate change

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<v Speaker 1>and that kind of thing.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, well, we can do things right. Climate change is

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<v Speaker 2>something that we know is going to be impacting us,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, worse and worse into the future. But we

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<v Speaker 2>can mitigate against that. We can choose the future that

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<v Speaker 2>we want. We can't choose it to not be bad

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<v Speaker 2>at all, but we can choose how bad it gets

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<v Speaker 2>by reducing our carbon footprints. And mostly we need to

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<v Speaker 2>think about adaptation as well. Going to be a new

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<v Speaker 2>normal for us, and part of that, unfortunately, is going

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<v Speaker 2>to be increased marine mammal strandings. So we need to

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<v Speaker 2>think about our resources and how well resourced we are

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<v Speaker 2>to respond to these kinds of things. Our local municipalities

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<v Speaker 2>need to think about that as well and make sure

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<v Speaker 2>we have the funding resources available to organizations like ours

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<v Speaker 2>to be able to respond to the new increase in

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<v Speaker 2>the number of animals that we're going to be seeing

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<v Speaker 2>on our local beaches comes with increased costs, and the

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<v Speaker 2>public can help with that as well.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, and Dave, If people want to get more information

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<v Speaker 1>about your organization, is there a place they can go

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<v Speaker 1>and check it out.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Marine Mammalcare dot org is our website. You'll have

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<v Speaker 2>information about the bloom right there. You can tell you

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<v Speaker 2>all about what's happening with the animals. It's also an opportunity,

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<v Speaker 2>if you feel like it, you can donate to our

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<v Speaker 2>organization help to pay for the increased costs in medicine

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<v Speaker 2>and food that we're seeing at this time.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, Dave Bader with the Marine Mammalcare Center, thank you

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<v Speaker 1>so much for the information. And again, if you do

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<v Speaker 1>a stranded sea lion or a dolphin, call don't get

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<v Speaker 1>close to it. Call one eight hundred and thirty nine Whale.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you so much.

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<v Speaker 2>We appreciate it. Take care, Thank you so much.