Dead Dolphins, Sea Lions found on Oxnard beach. Ca.
By Christopher Stolz
Ventura County Star
August 19, 2011
California -Teresa Camara and her husband, Keith Flanagan, were walking on the Oxnard beach Thursday evening north of Fifth Street when they came across a grisly scene.
© Karen Quincy Loberg/The Star
Ed Stevenson makes a notation on the findings of Ron Barrett as the two volunteers with Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute investigate the report Friday of several dead dolphins on the beach in Oxnard. Barrett said there were four dead male dolphins and an equal number of sea lions on the beach north of Fifth Street.
“We were having a really good time, we were with our dog, the sun was setting and the weather was beautiful, and then we came up to the first dead dolphin,” she said. “And then we found another one, and we looked up and we realized the beach was kind of scattered with dead dolphins.”
© Karen Quincy Loberg/The Star
On Friday morning, volunteers from the Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute found four dead dolphins and four dead sea lions at a site not far from the power plant at Mandalay Beach.
“They were all different sizes, Two of the dolphins were smaller and appeared to be younger,” Camara said. “We didn’t understand what was going on, and we felt very sad for the dolphins.”
According to Tom McCormick, a marine biologist who has worked in biological assessment along the Ventura County coast for more than 20 years, the deaths probably are linked to a natural neurotoxin called domoic acid.
“People are quick to point the finger at the power plant, but quite frankly the operators don’t add anything to the water they use except a little heat,” McCormick said.
“At this time of year you often get the red tides, and associated with that are plankton species that produce domoic acid,” he said. “This is a neurotoxin that is picked by the filter feeders in the water, The smaller fishes, such as anchovies and sardines, eat the filter feeders, and the toxins get concentrated in the animals that eat the smaller fishes. Sometimes you will see a sea lion on the beach, jerking and contorting due to this toxin – it’s really heart wrenching.”
Ron Barrett, a field assessment volunteer who has been working with the Channel Islands Marine Wildlife Institute for 16 years, confirmed the animals died of natural causes not related to the plant or to fishing.
“Basically every year we have a season where domoic acid presents itself,” he said. “Some seasons are worse than other This year has been fairly light in Ventura County.”
The decomposing carcasses attracted a vast aerial crowd of seagulls, buzzards, and vultures.
“The bodies were covered with sea gulls,” said Camara. “It was pretty gross.”
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