Pirate's Cove

Wow, this looks pretty bad

Sea lions are attacking people in the waters off California’s coast. Here’s why

Along some 70 miles of Southern California coastline, usually curious and playful sea lions are attacking humans in the water. The animals are being poisoned by the ocean they live in, experts say, citing reports of sick sea lions at unprecedented levels. And many are dying.

Pheobe Beltran, a 15-year-old girl in Long Beach, was swimming on March 30, when a sea lion attacked her right arm.

“I was just so scared, so shocked, but I still felt the immense pain on my arms, like, over and over again,” Beltran, who was finishing up a 1,000-yard swim during tryouts to become a junior lifeguard, told CNN affiliate KCAL. (snip)

Up the coast in Ventura County on March 21, a surfer near Oxnard, was bitten by a sea lion in open water. The attack left him “shaken” to his core, he said.

The cause is less demonic and more likely domoic acid toxicosis caused by toxic algal bloom, often referred to as red tide, experts say.

“The sea lions are coming in almost comatose by the time they’re stranding. Something is happening in this particular bloom that seems worse on multiple levels,” John Warner, CEO of the Marine Mammal Care Center in Los Angeles, told CNN. “But volume-wise, it’s definitely the worst we’ve ever seen.”

Dolphins also have been affected.

So, exactly two incidents mentioned, and, really, you have Californians putting lots of pollutants into the ocean causing red tides and other issues, not too mention too many people encroaching on the territories of the sea lions, who are very aggressive in defending their territories. And many people are too stupid to stay away, just like tourists go and try and pet the fluffy cows in Yellowstone.

Anyhow, there can be numerous reasons for red tides. A big one is runoff with excessive nutrients from agriculture, as well as sewage. Warm water, which isn’t really a big concern, because California waters aren’t exactly like Florida. Calm waters can cause this. And upwelling of deep water, which is something that can happen quite a bit on the California coast. But, mostly, the main cause is chemicals, be it sewage or fertilizer, or even naturally occurring as there is runoff. But, CNN knows the real answer

Human-induced climate change makes unwanted changes to the ecosystem

The toxin, domoic acid, is naturally present in the Pacific Ocean. Now, a process called upwelling is responsible for pushing the acid into the aquatic food chain. As winds churn up cold water off the Southern California coast, sediment rich in nutrients is swirled up from the ocean floor and becomes feed for smaller creatures in the water who are eaten by larger ones like pelicans, whales and all kinds of fish. The nutrients are a “huge amount of food that is just everywhere in the water table,” Warner said, explaining how the abundant toxic algae enter the food chain.

Human-caused climate change and land development are also making unwanted changes to the ecosystem and feeding the outsized toxic algal blooms, Warner said. The warmer temperatures on the ocean surface are more acidic, which favors algae. Nitrogen fertilizer from farming is also running into the ocean, carried by rivers and streams, which feeds the algae just like it feeds plants on land.

Got that? Your fault. Even though the majority of those two paragraphs say it’s mostly things other than the climate scam. Doesn’t mean Mankind doesn’t bear responsibility for a lot, but, not the climate scam. For which CNN offers no proof. Literally just mentions it but makes no attempt to explain how this really factors in, especially since the Pacific is not really warmer, and the Ph is on average 8.1, which is alkaline. You’re really going to have to get down in the upper 5s before you really get dangerous acidity. Just another case of having to yell “Climate Change!” in every story possible.

Read: Your Fault: Sea Lions Are Attacking Californians »