More than double the typical number of sick sea lions have washed ashore in California this year, stretching rescue teams to their limits as a toxic algae outbreak spreads along the West Coast.
At the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, workers have taken in more than 150 sea lions suffering from domoic acid poisoning since the start of the year. The naturally-occurring neurotoxin stems from harmful algal blooms, multiplying through the marine food chain as forage fish eat the algae and are then consumed by larger predators.
