monkey's uncle

Related to my recent posts, it looks like the marine mammal die-offs in the Pacific continue.  A new story reports a die-off of right whales off Argentina. As with the sea lion die-off off Central California, a shortage of food (this time copepods) and possibly marine toxins are implicated.

[Read more →]

Information sent today from Promed-Mail indicates that domoic acid is indeed implicated in the sea-lion die-off in California.  Domoic acid is a neurotoxin produced by certain algal blooms that can bioaccumulate as it moves up trophic chains. Fisheries and Oceans Canada has a terrific resource page with extensive references on domoic acid. The report on [...]

[Read more →]

I just read this story about the alarming number of dead sea lions showing up around Monterey Bay in Central California.  We were just down at Moss Landing State Beach and saw for ourselves evidence of this die-off.  The sea lion had a couple of bites taken out of it but its unclear whether they [...]

[Read more →]

Crocodiles have been dying in large numbers on the Olifants River in Kruger National Park, the crown jewel of the South African Parks System.  The article rather casually states that the die-off is attributable to environmental pollutants: There is growing consensus that the croc die-off is a result of a confluence of low level toxins, which has lead [...]

[Read more →]