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Update
for domoic acid event in 2007
A
domoic acid outbreak off the Southern
California coast is again
affecting the endangered brown
pelican. Since early April
2006 more than 80 pelicans
have been dropped off at the
International Bird Rescue Research
Center (IBRRC) in San Pedro,
CA.
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Weakened by exposure
to domoic acid, these Brown
Pelicans lay back and and
have seizures. If treated
quickly with fluid therapy,
the birds can flush the toxins
from their system. (Jay Holcomb/IBRRC
photo)
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The poisoned pelicans
are becoming disoriented, flying
inland, and dropping from the
sky and suddenly flipping on their
backs on the ground. One sick
pelican was picked up in Burbank
-- some 25 miles from the coastline.
See: Juvenile pelican lands at
LAX
"They become very
disoriented, they fly in different
directions, they even fall out of
the sky," said Jay Holcomb,
IBRRC's executive director.
Brown Pelicans began
arriving in various stages of
illness. The ones that were quickly
rescued had a chance to survive
if they received massive fluid
therapy, orally and intravenously,
to flush the toxin from their
bloodstreams. As of May 2, 2006,
a total of 18 pelicans
have been released back into the
wild. The center still has 36 live
birds in care. Unfortunately, of
the 84 pelicans brought to the
center in the last four weeks,
18 were dead on arrival and 12
died in care.
When conditions are right, the marine phytoplankton,
Pseudo-nitzschia australis, blooms and the tiny algae overgrow,
creating what is known as a “bloom” or “red
tide”. The algae produce domoic acid. Research into
the plankton is so recent that it’s still not known
what causes the algae
growth or why the cells produce different levels of domoic
acid at different times, but the effect is clear. As the
toxin bioaccululates up the food chain, fish become contaminated
with the poison, and then the birds and marine mammals who
feed on them.
The first reported
outbreak of domoic acid poisoning
occurred in 1987 when 3 people died
from eating shellfish from Prince
Edward Island Canada. In 1991, dead
and dying seabirds, including pelicans,
began washing up along the beaches
off Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay,
CA. The birds had been eating anchovy
contaminated with domoic acid. In
May and June of 1998, 400 California
sea lions died. The cause, domoic
acid.
By May 2002, thousands
of birds and mammals, including
dolphins, sea lions, seabirds, and
endangered brown pelicans would
have died of domoic acid poisoning.
The media reported birds falling
from the sky and convulsing, and
it was true. The toxin enters the
bloodstream, then the brain, causing
convulsions, coma, vomiting, seizures
and finally, mercifully, death.
Wildlife centers were overwhelmed
with dead and dying animals and
desperately tried to save them.
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Deadly
diatoms
Pseudo-nitzschia, the diatom
that produces domoic acid
Harmful
algae
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution site discusses
algaes' effect on our environment
Back
to Pelican Project
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