351 dead turtles and 137 dead sea lions wash up on Baja California coast, Mexico #Turtles #SeaLions #BajaCalifornia #Mexico

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351 loggerhead sea turtles have been found dead on the same stretch of coastline where 137 sea lions were found deceased earlier this month.

The loggerhead sea turtles and sea lions were found on the Baja California coast, in northwestern Mexico.

he Mexican Centre for Environmental Law and the Centre for Biological Diversity have both said the death of the sea turtles highlights the need for net and line fishing to be banned in this area of the Pacific coast.

Searches following reports of beached sea lions on 4 September found the animals’ carcasses scattered along an 80-mile stretch of coast in Comondu, Baja California.

Tissue samples from the animals have been collected to establish a cause of death after authorities said the sea lions showed no sign of injuries from fishing nets or lines.

In Mexico, California sea lions are a protected species but aren’t considered to be at danger of extinction.

However, loggerhead sea turtles are considered endangered in the country.

Activists have argued that the use of nets are the main reason behind the death of the sea turtles.

The groups have said the area where they were found is considered a protected zone for sea turtles as current regulations only allow for 90 deaths a year while a temporary ban on commercial long-line and gill net fishing is implemented.

However, Mario Sanchez, who works for the Centre for Environmental Law, said: “We are concerned that the deaths of loggerhead turtles is getting worse in the Gulf of Ulloa and that environmental authorities have still not enforced the applicable regulations.”

In 2019, 331 loggerhead turtles were found dead in the area, and in 2018 the figure stood at 459.

Courtesy of Sky News

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40+ #penguins, plus #dolphins, #turtles and #SeaLions found dead on beaches in #SantaCatarina, #Brazil

Photo: PMP-BS / Divulgação

In Bombinhas, more than 40 penguins were found dead on Thursday (22), according to the Santos Basin Beaches Monitoring Project (PMP-BS). On the morning of Friday (23), five more animals in Itapema , one in Porto Belo and another in Bombinhas were located by the Anjos do Mar Institute.

In addition to the penguins, dolphins, turtles and sea lions were collected dead by the environmental agencies partners of the PMP-BS, still without balance. The project and the Angels of the Sea Institute state that mortality can be linked to different factors.

“This cause of death for the penguins is more related to a natural cause, that the animals are very thin and debilitated with a large parasite infestation,” explains PMP-BS program coordinator Jeferson Dick.

According to the director of the Anjos do Mar Institute, Marcelo Assumpção Ulysséa, the use of witch networks has also caused the deaths. “Illegal shore fishing nets,” adds the director, who found animals trapped in them.

In Bombinhas, the animals were found in Mariscal, Quatro Ilhas and Canto Grande. Penguins often swim in flocks and are also found dead in groups, in the sea or on the beach sands.

Courtesy of g1.globo.com

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#Penguins, #SeaLions, #turtle and several dead #birds appeared on the coast of #JoséIgnacio, #Uruguay

Photo: SOS Marine Fauna Rescue of Punta Colorada

“There were 28 dead penguins, three sea lions, one large turtle and several birds, petrels and albatross, scattered in 50 meters of shore of a beach of José Ignacio,” explained Richard Tesore, head of the NGO SOS Rescate Fauna Marina .

“A couple of penguins had some oil, the rest were healthy, it is thought that some animals had arrived alive and then some stray dogs killed them, since they had blood in the neck area,” he added.

In addition, the beaches of Rocha and Canelones also had the appearance of dead animals in their coasts, according to El País and confirmed Montevideo Portal.

“It is a very bad situation, we raise some bodies to do necropsies and the idea is to reveal reports to the authorities to find out if there is an answer,” concluded Tesore.

Courtesy of montevideo.com.uy

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7 dead sea lions have washed up during past month in Mazatlan, Mexico

Seven sea lions found dead along the beaches of Mazatlan

Courtesy of eluniversal.com.mx

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31+ dead sea lions, 41+ dead sea birds and 2 dead turtles found on beaches in Talara, Peru

Serfor coordinates with local governments to proceed with the burial of specimens of wildlife. | Source: Serfor Piura

 

Staff from the National Forestry and Wildlife Service (Serfor) Piura recorded the deaths of some 31 sea lions, 41 birds and two turtles on the beaches of the province of Talara.

 

The members of Serfor toured the beaches talareñas from El Amor, in the district of Máncora, to the beach Peña Negra, in the district of El Alto. And according to the monitoring, 80% of the wolves show an advanced state of decomposition.

 

Also, about one of these dead mammals was identified, to a dozen lifeless crabs; which makes them presume that they died because of the consumption of the poisoned chusco wolf.

 

Juan Otivo, responsible for Serfor Piura, reported that he coordinates with local governments to proceed with the burial of wildlife specimens, as well as a meeting with the representatives of the Artisanal Fishing Lands located in the affected areas.

 

Otivo Meza said that “it is a recurrent theme for this time the death of marine fauna. There are versions such as poisoning by some bad fishermen, and another as a result of the change in temperature of the sea.

Courtesy of rpp.pe

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Dozens of sea lions washing up, 31 dead since June, in California, USA

Photo: Nicole Boliaux, The Chronicle

Scores of convulsing sea lions are washing up on Central California beaches after eating fish poisoned by a plume of toxic algae that could spread north toward the Bay Area and cause widespread problems, marine biologists said.

 

Since June, veterinarians at the Marine Mammal Center in the Marin Headlands have treated 89 animals — all but seven of them sea lions — plucked mostly off beaches near San Luis Obispo, where a large algal bloom formed in the ocean.

 

Of the 82 sea lions brought to the center, 31 have died, and virtually all of them had seizures caused by domoic acid, the dreaded neurotoxin that closed down the Dungeness crab season two years ago and killed off thousands of marine species over the past two decades, said Shawn Johnson, the center’s director of veterinary science.

 

“We’ve rescued 64 animals just in July,” said Johnson, who coordinates the rehabilitation of injured marine mammals rescued from San Luis Obispo to the Oregon border. “They’ve been coming in huge waves, as many as 10 a day.”

 

The coming crab season, which typically kicks off in November, is not currently being threatened, but state health officials are monitoring the situation to see if algal blooms begin cropping up farther north as ocean temperatures climb in the late summer and fall.

 

The stakes are high for the environment and for the fishing industry. More than 21 million pounds of Dungeness worth $66.7 million were pulled in during the 2016-17 season, the best haul in four years and almost double what was taken a year earlier when much of the California coast was blanketed in algae, prompting fishing restrictions and health warnings.

 

The latest bloom, known as a red tide, appears to be on a northward trajectory. Starting in April, dozens of sick and dying sea lions, dolphins and fur seals were found on beaches in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas.

 

Over the past two months, most of the poisoned sea lions, fur seals and sea otters have been washing up on beaches around Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area in San Luis Obispo County, Johnson said. Many of the rescued sea lions were lactating females that had been foraging near the Channel Islands for food to feed their pups.

 

“To have them so concentrated in such a short time period is unusual. That tells us there is a really toxic bloom of algae in that area,” Johnson said. “As the water temperatures increase over the summer, we see this bloom migrating farther north, so it’s possible we could see it reach the Monterey Bay area in the late summer and fall.”

 

Outbreaks like this one have been sickening increasing numbers of marine mammals since the first toxic bloom was documented on the West Coast in 1998, when 400 sea lions washed ashore in Monterey Bay.

 

The culprit was a microscopic, single-celled species known as pseudo-nitzschia, which produces domoic acid. The algae grows thicker and faster in warmer, nutrient rich seawater, and the toxin it produces accumulates in shellfish, mussels, anchovies, sardines and herring, the primary food of sea lions.

 

When it is sufficiently dense, it attacks the hippocampus, the brain’s memory center, and can cause memory loss, tremors, convulsions and death. The toxin, which accumulates in the bloodstream, can also sicken people who eat fish, crab or mollusks.

Courtesy of sfchronicle.com

 

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40+ dead Sea Lions and 2 dead Whales found along the coast of Lambayeque, Peru

Two dead whales were found on San Jose beach. | Source: RPP | Photographer: Henry Urpeque

Fishermen found two whales and more than 40 dead sea lions between the beach of San José ( Lambayeque ) and the Íllescas reserve in Sechura-Piura. 

 

According to reports, the stranding of marine species occurred as a result of the high tide that has been present for several days throughout the coast, which is why the Maritime Captaincy ordered the closure of the docks and coves of the Lambayeque region, for prevention .

 

Marine species were in a state of decomposition. The fact was reported to the authorities of the Institute of the Sea of ​​Peru (Imarpe) in order to know the cause of the deaths. 

 

In this regard, the president of the Asoprovida (Protective Association of Life), Elmer Burga Mundaca, reported that every year this stranding of whales, dolphins and other marine species is increasing in many parts of the world and is due to the deviation of the axis Terrestrial in relation to the planet’s magnetic axis.

 

Courtesy of rpp.pe

 

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Hundreds of dead sea birds and sea lions washing up on beaches in California, USA

Something disturbing has been washing up on Southern California beaches in recent weeks: dead and dying seabirds and marine mammals, numbering in the dozens.

 

California resident Kyle Cory said this week he’s been seeing “between six and 10 or 12” sick or dead sea birds every time he walks along the beaches of Ventura Country. He’s also witnessed the death of sick seals.

 

“It’s affected me in a bad way,” he told CBS Los Angeles. “How many have to die before somebody cares?”

 

Since at least April, dying marine animals and birds have been washing up en masse on the shores of Southern California’s beaches. The Ventura County Star reported on April 20 that dozens of sick or dead sea lions had been spotted in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Several other dying or dead animals, including loons, pelicans and even dolphins had also been found.

 

The Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute, which rescues marine mammals around Santa Barbara and Ventura, told the Star that over one weekend in mid-April, it received about 100 calls every day from concerned beachgoers who’d seen sick or dying sea lions on the beach. “Right now, we’re averaging 30 animals on watch per day,” said Sam Dover, the executive director of the institute, at the time.

 

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, Orange County said this month that it too had rescued dozens of dying sea lions and seals. Since early April, the center has rescued 40 adult sea lions, 26 of which have died, spokesperson Krysta Higuchi told the Los Angeles Times.

 

And the bad news continues. 

 

Elaine Ibarra, who works with the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network, told CBS Los Angeles that hundreds of seabirds, including pelicans and loons, have died in Southern California in recent weeks. It’s the worst seabird die-off in the area that she’s ever seen, she said.

 

Ibarra and other experts believe domoic acid, a naturally occurring neurotoxin in algae, is to blame for the mass die-off as a larger-than-normal algal bloom has appeared in waters off the coast of Southern California ― stretching from Santa Barbara all the way south to Baja California.

 

Sometimes referred to as “red tide,” domoic acid can accumulate in fish and shellfish, which are eaten by larger sea creatures like marine mammals and birds (and also humans). The biotoxin can cause animals to become lethargic, disoriented, and have seizures that can result in death.

Courtesy of huffingtonpost.com

 

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Dozens of dead or dying sea lions, seals, dolphins and sea birds washing up along Southern California, USA

© imagebroker / Michael Weber / Global Look Press

Dozens of sick and dying sea lions, seals, loons, pelicans and other fish eaters have been reported along the Pacific coast in Southern California. Algae bloom has caused a spike in domoic acid, a neurotoxin that is passed from fish to their predators.

 

Domoic acid poisoning is at least partly to blame for the spate of sick marine life from Santa Barbara to San Diego, according to reports. Fish eat algae then pass on the naturally occurring neurotoxin to its predators, causing seizures, brain damage and, in some cases, death.

 

Organizations like the Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute (CIMWI) and the Pacific Marine Mammal Center (PMMC) have fielded hundreds of calls per day in the last week or so, according to local reports, flagging sick or dead animals along Southern California beaches.

 

“Right now, we’re averaging 30 animals on watch per day,” said Samuel Dover, CIMWI’s president, according to the Ventura County Star.

 

Sea lions, dolphins, harbor seals, Guadalupe fur seals, elephant seals, loons, grebes, cormorants and brown pelicans are among the species that have been impacted, according to reports.

 

In a two-week span this month, the PMMC rescued 24 sea lions, but only 10 survived.

 

“At the beginning of the year it kind of seemed we were headed to a normal, slower year,” PMMC’s Krysta Higuchi told the Daily Breeze. “All of a sudden we went from one or two rescues to five or eight a day…. We went from 14 animals to 35 in a week’s span.”

 

Domoic acid is also known as Amnesiac Shellfish Poisoning. The algae bloom that is carrying the neurotoxin is the result of the area’s heavy winter rains and subsequent runoff emptying into the ocean, Higuchi said. Climate change, she added, has also exacerbated the algae bloom.

 

Signs of domoic acid poisoning include lethargy, seizures and foaming at the mouth, according to experts.

 

Volunteers have roped off areas near sick sea lions along Ventura County beaches, the Ventura County Star reported, and officials have urged anyone who finds a distressed animal to stay away and report the animal to authorities. Sick animals are stressed and disoriented, making them a danger to the public if approached, experts said.

 

Due to the domoic acid levels, the California Department of Public Health has called on consumers to avoid eating “recreationally harvested bivalve shellfish” such as mussels, clams or scallops. Last week, the department said there had yet to be any reports of human poisoning.

Courtesy of rt.com

http://tinyurl.com/kujgahf

Dozens of dead sea birds, plus dead sea lions found along the coast in Puerto Natales, Chile

Photo By Jose Diaz

I hereby wish to express our concern about a situation that occurred in the city of Puerto Natales last week in the context of the Neo Tropical Waterfowl Census that is being carried out in the region by various volunteers and that in this locality was Carried out by José Díaz Tavie, member of the Patagonian Ecological Association from the regional tourism capital. 

 

In the sector comprised of Manger Sernatur or Pier Mackerel, up to the San Sebastián Grotto Sector, I found, (says José), the following: more than 30 dead birds mostly Imperial Cormorants, all adults, 1 Giant Petrel, 1 Albatross Black Eyebrow, Pilpilenes, Chickens of Caiquenes and 2 Common Marine Wolves killed, many of them already with carrion signals. 

 

The complaint was forwarded to the Superintendency of the Environment and to the SAG as well as the written media. 

 

Unfortunately news like this does not cause the commotion they should, but we find it very worrisome that there are several dead species on the coast that many of us travel and that Jose runs regularly, for some reason other people we are not seeing there was a bird death Which should concern us.

Courtesy of radiopolar.com

http://tinyurl.com/gneflq4