LA residents continue to witness the devastating impact of the deadly wildfires nearly three months on, with marine life now emerging as the latest casualty of the disaster, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The fallout from the destructive blaze has reached the city’s coastline where a deadly tide of toxic fire debris has resulted in dead dolphins and seals washing up along the iconic Santa Monica Beach.
The tragic scenes have sparked outrage from locals who are now accusing city, county, and state officials of failing to protect the coast from the environmental disaster.
Among them is surfer Ryan Harris, who has made these waters his playground for 25 years and had never been faced with the unsettling sight of sick or dying animals up until this week.
It was on the same stretch of sand he walks past every day that he saw the unimaginable early Tuesday morning: a lifeless dolphin sprawled across the shore.
Sprawled across the same stretch of sand he walks past every day, a lifeless dolphin
‘You don’t need a PhD to connect the dots. We see sick marine animals from time to time, but nothing like this,’ the eco-surfboard pioneer told DailyMail.com.
‘There’s no way this isn’t linked to the toxic runoff from the fires earlier this year. I don’t understand why our city and state officials refuse to remove the fire debris covering the sand and polluting the ocean.
‘I’ve lived here nearly 30 years, and I’ve never seen a dead dolphin.’
Just four days earlier, Harris came across a baby dolphin at Dockweiler Beach, south of Venice, that was so far gone it had to be euthanized on the sand by a Marine Mammal Care Center veterinarian.
‘It’s heartbreaking,’ said Harris, who provides daily surf and water reports to his 8.5k Instagram followers.
‘I feel a responsibility to explain what’s happening to our ocean. This isn’t just my opinion, it’s based on science.
‘Every day, multiple times a day, people are reporting sick seals and sea lions and dead dolphins and whales.’
But Harris is frustrated by the silence from those who could make a difference.
‘Why aren’t more people in positions of influence speaking out? Leo lost his home, and he hasn’t said anything about the contaminated beaches,’ he said referring to Leonardo DiCaprio, the Oscar-winning actor and famed eco-warrior.
‘We need public figures to bring attention to this because the city and county officials responsible for protecting our ocean aren’t doing their job.’
Since the start of the year, the Marine Mammal Care Center has admitted more than 100 stranded animals.
As of March 18, its facility has 59 California sea lions, two northern elephant seals, and a Pacific Harbor seal, with numbers increasing daily.
‘This is very concerning,’ said John Warner, CEO of the San Pedro-based nonprofit.
‘We have more strandings than we can handle. We’ve been raising the red flag.’
Warner points to worsening environmental conditions, including a sharp rise in toxic algae blooms.
‘We used to see these blooms every three to seven years, but now we’ve had four in a row,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘This is a natural phenomenon worsened by rain events. While the fires may contribute to conditions that fuel these toxic blooms, they’re not the sole cause.’
Conservation biologist Ashley Oelsen, however, is convinced the toxic runoff from the January Palisades fires has played a major role in the domoic acid outbreak and the overall decline of the marine ecosystem.
‘Ash, particularly from urban wildfires, can act as a source of nutrients, which under certain conditions can stimulate harmful algal blooms,’ explained Oelsen.
‘Additionally, this can lead to oxygen depletion in coastal waters negatively impacting our kelp forest, critical for marine habitats, and the countless species that depend on them,’ the conservationist added.
‘The combination of toxic runoff, nutrient imbalances, and lingering pollutants creates a cascading effect, weakening an already fragile ecosystem and putting marine wildlife at even greater risk.’
Oelsen, who founded The Coastal Alliance in response to the fires, has been advocating for the ecologically sensitive cleanup and disposal of the toxic debris blanketing the beaches but her calls for action have largely been ignored, she claimed.
‘I fear that due to the lack of action over the past two months, we have lost the opportunity to properly remove and remediate these contaminants, which have now become a long-term environmental hazard.
‘California prides itself on being a leader in environmental protection, but it’s just a façade—more about optics than real action,’ she added.
Baywatch alum David Chokachi has spent years in the ocean – both on-screen and in real life.
Most recently, he helped transport dogs from overcrowded animal shelters to out-of-state rescue facilities to make room for displaced pets from the fires. He currently volunteers with the Marine Mammal Care Center.
‘The lifeguards told me straight up – they’ve never seen anything like this,’ said Chokachi, referring to the surge of sick marine animals.
‘The condition of the ocean is like the Exxon Valdez oil spill times a thousand. It’s a disaster zone, and nothing has been cleaned up.
‘The storms sent all that debris into the ocean, and they’ve done nothing. That toxic waste has been leaching onto the sand since day one.’
The actor asks the question many are wondering: Who exactly is in charge?
‘I don’t understand why the fire debris hasn’t been cleaned up. Entire homes along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu burned to the ground, and nothing has been removed.
‘Emergency crews should have been working 24/7 to get that toxic debris off the coast before it washed into the ocean. That would have been my top priority.
Instead, he said Governor Gavin Newsom has been ‘doing podcasts and laughing’.
‘People are furious,’ said Chokachi, whose most famous role was as lifeguard Cody Madison on Baywatch.
Just last week, Chokachi, 57, got a call about a stranded seal at Nicholas Canyon Beach, 14 miles north of Malibu.
‘I went immediately. The sound that seal was making – I’ve never heard anything like it. It was in agony.
‘Normally, I can handle these things, but the guttural noise it made… it sounded like it was begging for help. It was seizing, going rigid. We had to flex its flippers just to get it into the crate. It was brutal.’
Many believe officials are literally sweeping the problem away to protect tourism dollars.
DailyMail.com reached out to Governor Newsom’s office who advised us to contact the Los Angeles Department of Public Health.
The agency replied via email urging beachgoers to stay clear from visible fire debris and to stay out of the water during any posted ocean advisory.
Questions about marine wildlife were directed to yet another department.
‘Our ocean is treated like a toilet,’ Oelsen said. ‘Every chance to remove these pollutants has been ignored by city and county officials.’
Marine Mammal Care Center is urging the public to immediately call 1-800-39-WHALE to report beached seals and dolphins, and to give the animals space.
The center has also advised not to attempt to help the animals, noting that pouring water over them or feeding them can worsen their condition and add unnecessary stress. Encourage others to do the same until specialists arrive.
This article by Sandra Clark was first published by The Daily Mail on 20 March 2025. Lead Image: Sick or dead marine life have been washing up on shore at LA beaches due to a deadly tide of toxic fire debris contaminating the ocean, residents tell DailyMail.com.
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