For four years running, beaches along the West Coast saw dolphins, sea lions, and even whales wash ashore, victims of a massive toxic algae bloom. Per the Los Angeles Times, officials say the bloom has finally ended — but experts warn that the ocean is still in danger.
What’s happening?
After one of the longest, deadliest algae blooms ever recorded in Southern California, scientists say toxic algae levels have finally fallen below dangerous thresholds. The bloom, stretching from Baja California to the Central Coast, killed hundreds of dolphins and sea lions, leaving many other animals struggling with neurotoxin poisoning.
“This was one of the largest, longest, and most lethal events we’ve ever seen,” Dave Bader, chief operations and education officer at the Marine Mammal Care Center, told the paper. “It’s definitely over, but we still have the work of rehabilitating the animals we’ve saved — and we’re not out of the woods this year at all.”
Researchers believe an unusual combination of factors fueled the outbreak, including warmer ocean waters and nutrient runoff from January’s wildfires…