The Marine Mammal Center participated in 12 necropsies of deceased gray whales in and around the Bay. Later in the year, malnourished Guadalupe fur seals stranded along the coast at a historically high rate. In June, a surprisingly early toxic algae bloom off the coast of San Luis Obispo caused a rash of cases of Domoic Acid Toxicity among pregnant and yearling California sea lions. Dr. Cara Field, staff veterinarian at The Marine Mammal Center, has some theories as to why these events have occurred. Whale necropsies showed significant emaciation, consistent with studies done on gray whales in Mexico this past winter showing that many were already in poor body condition after returning from their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic. Guadalupe fur seals may be starving due to changing prey patterns, or attempting to return to their historical range. The algae bloom could be related to higher water temperatures, or to the higher than average rainfall last winter. “The fact that previous patterns have changed suggests something is changing,” says Dr. Field, “but we don’t know exactly what yet.” Meanwhile, there are signs that a healthier Bay ecosystem may be attracting marine life with fresh vigor. Humpback whales were sighted feeding within the Bay this past spring, something Dr. Field says wouldn’t have been seen 20 years ago. The animals that die here afford a valuable opportunity to conduct research and continue to shed light on distant ecosystems. “It’s so important that we continue to gather data from these stranded animals so that we can apply it to bigger picture ocean issues,” says Dr. Field. “We can’t just focus on local occurrences.”
 

Pearls in the ocean of information that our reporters didn’t want you to miss
Photo: Katie D'Innocenzo © The Marine Mammal Center
 

While it’s been a tough year for marine mammals along the California coast, local San Francisco Bay conditions may have afforded scientists a unique opportunity to study emerging ocean problems.

The Marine Mammal Center participated in 12 necropsies of deceased gray whales in and around the Bay. Later in the year, malnourished Guadalupe fur seals stranded along the coast at a historically high rate. In June, a surprisingly early toxic algae bloom off the coast of San Luis Obispo caused a rash of cases of Domoic Acid Toxicity among pregnant and yearling California sea lions. Dr. Cara Field, staff veterinarian at The Marine Mammal Center, has some theories as to why these events have occurred. Whale necropsies showed significant emaciation, consistent with studies done on gray whales in Mexico this past winter showing that many were already in poor body condition after returning from their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic. Guadalupe fur seals may be starving due to changing prey patterns, or attempting to return to their historical range. The algae bloom could be related to higher water temperatures, or to the higher than average rainfall last winter. “The fact that previous patterns have changed suggests something is changing,” says Dr. Field, “but we don’t know exactly what yet.” Meanwhile, there are signs that a healthier Bay ecosystem may be attracting marine life with fresh vigor. Humpback whales were sighted feeding within the Bay this past spring, something Dr. Field says wouldn’t have been seen 20 years ago. The animals that die here afford a valuable opportunity to conduct research and continue to shed light on distant ecosystems. “It’s so important that we continue to gather data from these stranded animals so that we can apply it to bigger picture ocean issues,” says Dr. Field. “We can’t just focus on local occurrences.”
 

About the author

Michael Hunter Adamson was born and partly raised in the Bay Area and spent his childhood balancing adventure with mischief. As an equally irresponsible adult he has worked for The Nature Conservancy, the arts and education nonprofit NaNoWriMo, taught English in Madrid-based High School equivalent, and volunteers with The Marine Mammal Center. As a writer for Estuary and the editor of the Bay Area Monitor, Michael employs his love for nature and his interest in people to help tell the unfolding story of the living Earth.

Related Posts

American Avocet on managed, former salt ponds in the South Bay. Photo: Roopak Bhatt, USGS

One-of-a-Kind Stories

Our magazine’s media motto for many years has been “Where there’s an estuary, there’s a crowd.” The San Francisco Estuary is a place where people, wildlife, and commerce congregate, and where watersheds, rivers and the ocean meet and mix, creating a place of unusual diversity. In choosing to tell the...
dam spillway oroville

Supplying Water

Ever since the state and federal water projects were built in the 1930s and 1940s, California has captured snowmelt in foothill reservoirs, and moved the fresh water from dam releases and river outflows to parched parts of the state via aqueducts hundreds of miles long. A convoluted system of ancient...

Tackling Pollution

Though the Clean Water Act did an amazing job of reducing wastewater and stormwater pollution of the San Francisco Estuary, some contaminants remain thorny problems.  Legacy pollutants like mercury washed into the watershed from upstream gold mining, PCBs from old industrial sites, and selenium from agricultural drainage in the San...