Watch out for the demonic acid, man!!
Posted on 03/11/2011 10:42:41 PM PST by quantim
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The millions of sardines that were found floating dead in a Southern California marina this week tested positive for a powerful neurotoxin, researchers said Friday.
High levels of domoic acid were found in the sardines, which may have distressed them off the Los Angeles coastline and caused them to swim into the Redondo Beach marina, University of Southern California biologist David Caron wrote in a summary of his laboratory's findings.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Watch out for the demonic acid, man!!
“Crews have already scooped and hauled away more than 85 tons of fish to a composting center where they will turn into fertilizer.”
Every cloud has a silver lining. Considering the recent loss of crops worldwide, we’re gonna need all the fertilizer we can get.
powerful neurotoxin————
Once again climate change, global warming or whatever they choose to call it next, debunked again.
I don’t blame the sardines. I swam out of Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. :-).
the fish had a deadly toxin but he doesn't think they died from that. He thinks that just made them congregate in the bay where lack of oxygen killed them.
The California Department of Fish and Game also has blamed the die-off on oxygen deprivation
even tho’
The toxin has been linked to neurological disorders, illnesses and deaths in seabirds, sea lions, sea otters and whales
AND, even tho’ these tiny fish didn't die from the toxin
“birds feeding on these fish and it's conceivable that we'll see some bird mortality as a result,”
So the birds are expected to die from eating the contaminated fish that didn't die of it?-
HOWEVER - they have “scooped and hauled away more than 85 tons of fish to a composting center where they will turn into fertilizer.
QUESTION: if the larger birds are expected to die from eating these fish - what is this fertilizer going to be used for? Would it be prudent to assume that foods grown in this might make one sick?
I won't be buying any fish mulch for my garden this year. Indeed, I'll get my fertilizers and manures from local organic farmers - and maybe finally get those laying hens, for eggs AND fertilizer.
there's not much we can trust today.
Some day they will discover the Sardines committed suicide rather than suffer the earthquake and tsunami of last night...
Domoic Acid Fact Sheet
http://us.yhs4.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=altavista&itag=ody&q=domoic+acid&kgs=1&kls=0
WHERE DOES DOMOIC ACID COME FROM?
Domoic Acid is a nerve toxin produced by a naturally occurring Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB), usually (but not always) of the genus Pseudonitzchia.
WHAT ARE HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS (HABs)?
Harmful Algae are microscopic, single-celled plants that live in the sea. HABs derive their “harmful” stature because they produce extremely potent neuro-poisons or
biotoxins. Most species of algae or phytoplankton are not harmful and serve as the energy producers at the base of the food web, without which higher life on this planet
would not exist.
HOW DOES DOMOIC ACID ENTER THE MARINE FOOD WEB?
Phytoplankton are responsible for converting inorganic molecules into more complex organic nutrients. In turn, these microscopic organisms provide food for the larger
organisms higher in the food web, such as fishes and mammals. In HABs, toxic compounds can enter the food web and accumulate in fish and shellfish. In most cases,
fish and shellfish do not appear to be affected by these toxins, but organisms higher in the food web, such as marine mammals and humans, can be made ill or even die.
WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF DOMOIC ACID?
Scientists now suspect that Domoic acid poisoning was the cause of a massive bird poisoning in 1961, which resulted in gulls and shearwaters demonstrating frenzied, intoxicated behavior in a northern California town. This real-life event was the inspiration for the Alfred Hitchcock movie “The Birds.” Domoic acid toxicity was first recognized during an outbreak of neurological symptoms among humans on Prince Edward Island in Canada in 1987 following mussel consumption. Filter feeders like mussels and small finfish such as sardines feed on the algae and concentrate the toxins.
Domoic acid poisoning is almost exclusively a problem for marine mammals and seabirds that feed on sardines and anchovies that consume the algae.
ARE HUMANS AT RISK?
CDHS has issued several warnings to consumers advising them to avoid all sport-harvested species of bi-valve shellfish; oysters, mussels, scallops, and clams. The quarantine area is in effect for the state’s entire coast, including bays and estuaries.
Close monitoring of local shellfish and local fish caught for human consumption is needed to determine risk. Humans are usually unaffected by the toxin, though four deaths occurred among people who ate shellfish in Canada.
HOW IS DOMOIC ACID AFFECTING LOCAL WATERS?
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, also known as NOAA Fisheries) has called the current series of strandings an “unusual mortality event.” The Department of Fish
and Game (DFG) and the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) are advising the public that dozens of marine mammals, including dolphins and sea lions, have been
found beached from San Diego to Santa Barbara. “Those animals may have become ill by eating small fish containing the toxin. A large number of dead or ill seabirds recently
found may also have been affected by the toxin.”
Sanctuary Naturalist Corps
C H A N N E L I S L A N D S
113 Harbor Way
Santa Barbara, CA 93109
(805) 966-7107
N A T I O N A L M A R I N E
3600 S. Harbor Blvd., Suite 217
Oxnard, CA 93035
(805) 382-6149
S A N C T U A R Y
DOMOIC ACID FACT SHEET
WHY IS THIS OUTBREAK HAPPENING?
It is generally accepted that the incidence of problems associated with toxic algae is increasing. Possible reasons to explain this expansion include natural mechanisms of
species dispersal (currents and tides) to a host of human-related phenomena such as nutrient enrichment (agricultural run-off), climatic shifts, or transport of algal species via
ship ballast water.
CAN THE OUTBREAK BE CONTROLLED?
Unfortunately, currents carry the algae in different directions. Greg Langlois, biologist with CDHS Marine Biotoxin Program stated, “This toxic bloom has reached shore at various locations from Monterey Bay to Ventura – and produced very high toxin levels. It is our hope that oceanic conditions will shift and push it farther out to sea, or that it will run out of steam in the next few weeks, before reaching shore farther south.”
WHAT IS BEING DONE FOR SICK ANIMALS?
Marine mammal rescue centers throughout the state have been busy attending the sick animals. In Santa Barbara, since April 10, “we’ve been getting anywhere from four to eight animals a day,” said Peter Howorth, director of the Santa Barbara Marine Mammal Rescue Center, who referred to the current situation as an “epidemic.” “We all hope that
this crisis will end soon. It has been a tremendous strain on personnel and resources throughout California. The good news is that many animals have been saved.”
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU FIND A SICK OR DEAD ANIMAL?
Please contact one of the listed agencies immediately. This is the best action that you can take in saving the animal’s life. Approaching a marine mammal is not recommended
except in the most extreme emergency. The last thing anyone who finds a stranded dolphin should do is push the animal back to sea. Instead, a bystander should keep other people or animals away from the dolphin and keep the creature wet. Any applied water should be directed away from the dolphin’s blowhole. Beached seals and sea lions should be kept dry because they often suffer from pneumonia.
Marine Mammal Strandings: Injured or Sick
805/687-3255 Santa Barbara Marine Mammal Rescue Center
Marine Mammal Strandings: Deceased
562/980-4017 Joe Cordaro, Stranding Coordinator, NMFS
Sea Birds: Injured or Sick
805/966-9005 Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network
Ventura County: All sick or deceased marine animals
805/388-4341 Ventura County Animal Regulation
Updates on shellfish biotoxins, quarantines and other information 800/553-4153
CDHS Shellfish Information Line
Sanctuary Naturalist Corps
C H A N N E L I S L A N D S
113 Harbor Way
Santa Barbara, CA 93109
(805) 966-7107
N A T I O N A L M A R I N E
3600 S. Harbor Blvd., Suite 217
Oxnard, CA 93035
(805) 382-6149
S A N C T U A R Y
Even tho' it's laced with a deadly neuron toxin?
You can have my share.
(Sorry to nudge the thread away from sardines.)
.
And they're composting these domoic acid laden dead fish into fertilizers...nice.
No fish mulch for my garden this year.
It must be exhausting for a liberal to spend all of his time convoluting reality to fit his world view.
It wouldn’t be that difficult to poison the fish.
Hope the canned sardines I just bought are OK. They probably are, and were canned way before this happened.
LOLOL
I heard it from a cousin’s sister’s aunt. It’s all Bush’s fault.
bookmark
Naw, they were probably canned during the gulf oil leak...
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