{"id":2186301,"date":"2025-04-03T06:00:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T04:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2186301"},"modified":"2025-03-29T08:27:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T07:27:53","slug":"trump-administration-cuts-to-noaa-threaten-efforts-to-save-sea-lions-from-toxic-plankton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/trump-administration-cuts-to-noaa-threaten-efforts-to-save-sea-lions-from-toxic-plankton\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration cuts to NOAA threaten efforts to save sea lions from toxic plankton"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Federal research and funding plays a crucial role in enabling scientists to monitor ocean conditions \u2014 including the domoic acid outbreak that is now killing hundreds of marine mammals up and down the California coast.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cEverything we do \u2014 all that data we collect \u2014 it couldn\u2019t be done without the federal government,\u201d said Clarissa Anderson at UC San Diego\u2019s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Redondo Beach \u2014 The Trump administration\u2019s targeting of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will jeopardize efforts to save sea lions, dolphins, sea birds and other wildlife stricken by poisons lurking offshore, say marine scientists, public health officials and animal rescuers.<\/p>\n<p>Federal research and funding plays a crucial role in enabling scientists to monitor ocean conditions \u2014 including the domoic acid outbreak that is now killing hundreds of marine mammals up and down the California coast.<\/p>\n<p>The data provided by NOAA, and other federally supported efforts, help scientists figure out when and how these outbreaks happen; provide help and aid to the sickened animals that are seizing and convulsing on area beaches; and test and examine their bodies once they have died to see if it was the toxin that killed them, and how it killed them.<\/p>\n<p>State and local public health officials also use the data gathered by NOAA and its funded partners to determine algal outbreaks that could affect human health \u2014 such as a current advisory urging people to avoid consuming oysters, mussels and clams off the Santa Barbara coast for another toxin, paralytic shellfish poisoning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything we do \u2014 all that data we collect \u2014 it couldn\u2019t be done without the federal government,\u201d said Clarissa Anderson, the director of the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System at UC San Diego\u2019s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have any of that information without them.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"thumbnail wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 2170px\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/825ca21\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4000x2667+0+0\/resize\/2160x1441!\/format\/webp\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa3%2Fdd%2F43398c4e4283b542ff38c5e5c4a6%2Fgettyimages-2202592286.jpg\" alt=\"A former employee of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) holds a sign during a protest at the agency\u2019s headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, US, on Monday, March 3, 2025. The Trump administration fired hundreds of employees at the top US agency overseeing weather prediction and climate research, raising concerns about the nation\u2019s preparedness amid wildfire and tornado warnings. (Daniel Heuer\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)\" width=\"2160\" height=\"1441\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"caption wp-caption-text\">A former employee of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) holds a sign during a protest at the agency\u2019s headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, US, on Monday, March 3, 2025. The Trump administration fired hundreds of employees at the top US agency overseeing weather prediction and climate research, raising concerns about the nation\u2019s preparedness amid wildfire and tornado warnings. (Daniel Heuer\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>NOAA didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment. A NOAA spokesperson previously said the agency \u201cremains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research and resources that serve the American public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although how much of the agency\u2019s budget will be slashed, and how many researchers will be axed, is still not clear. Researchers that work with the agency have been told to expect at least a 20% reduction in the agency\u2019s workforce and a 30% reduction in the budget.<\/p>\n<p>The domoic acid outbreak currently hitting the Southern and Central coast of California, from San Diego to Monterey, has led to hundreds of animals washing up on the shore dead. Sea lions and dolphins have been observed rigid with seizures, acting dazed and confused. Many of the sea lions show aggression, or swivel their heads and necks in wild and disorienting circles.<\/p>\n<p>A Times reporter this week witnessed a sea lion pulling itself out of the surf and onto the beach just south of the Hermosa Beach pier.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"thumbnail wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 2170px\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/b8fc909\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3024x2016+0+0\/resize\/2160x1440!\/format\/webp\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F77%2F4f%2F0898a06e4fbebe96d24c53fe5dbc%2Fla-0324-me-marine-domoic-acid-outbreak-cp-jpg-001.jpg\" alt=\"A sea lion rests on the sand in Redondo Beach. (Corinne Purtill\/Los Angeles Times)\" width=\"2160\" height=\"1440\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"caption wp-caption-text\">A sea lion rests on the sand in Redondo Beach. (Corinne Purtill\/Los Angeles Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Its head bobbed up and down and side to side, its snub nose tracing arcs in the morning sky. Over and over, its head arched up as if to take in the sun, and then flopped backward as if its bones had liquefied.<\/p>\n<p>A few feet from the animal, a dead western grebe \u2014 a sea bird \u2014 lay motionless in the sand, its head resting on a gnarl of wood. Just a few yards away, another bird, possibly another grebe, its belly and head obscured by the sand, also lay still. Near it lay the body of a dead sea lion.<\/p>\n<p>The animals may have been poisoned by ingesting fish contaminated by domoic acid, a toxin released by the common coastal phytoplankton Pseudo-nitzschia. The fish eat the toxic plankton, and the marine mammals and birds eat the poisonous fish, say experts.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists know there\u2019s a domoic acid event happening offshore because they have been able to detect blooms of Pseudo-nitzschia via NOAA and National Aeronautic and Space Agency satellites, and have sampled the plankton directly through technology, tests and protocols designed or funded by NOAA.<\/p>\n<p>They use robotic gliders that can go far offshore and sample below the water\u2019s surface. They also use shore stations up and down the coast, where they can monitor whats happening right offshore. And they use robotic microscopes that can sample and see the plankton, algae and other microscopic creatures spinning, floating and swimming in the water column (California has the largest network of these \u201cflow cytobots,\u201d said Anderson).<\/p>\n<p>They also piggyback on NOAA research vessels \u2014 or the vessels of NOAA research partners, such as Los Angeles Waterkeeper \u2014 or coordinate with NOAA scientists who can collect and test samples, to get even further out to sea.<\/p>\n<p>And as the frequency and severity of these events increase, the need for these services also grows.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"thumbnail wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 2170px\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/1af1653\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/8256x5504+0+0\/resize\/2160x1440!\/format\/webp\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe7%2Fac%2F153eb85b472ab0ea17e8b0dde13d%2F1499299-me-sick-sea-lions-domoic-acid-poisoning03-wl.jpg\" alt=\"A sea lion recuperates at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro. (William Liang\/For The Times)\" width=\"2160\" height=\"1440\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"caption wp-caption-text\">A sea lion recuperates at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro. (William Liang\/For The Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the last four years, at least four domoic acid events have occurred along the Central and Southern California coasts. In the past, such events were sporadic, occurring once every four or five years. The most publicly obvious impacts are the animals on the beaches, but they affect coastal shellfish farms and other aquaculture entities too.<\/p>\n<p>Daniele Bianchi, an assistant professor in UCLA\u2019s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, has been studying what causes this normally benign plankton species to start secreting lethal toxins.<\/p>\n<p>Bianchi said he and the graduate students in his laboratory \u2014 many of whom get funding from NOAA \u2014 still don\u2019t understand all the factors. But their work shows a correlation between increased levels of nitrogen in the water (a byproduct of storm and wastewater runoff) and domoic acid production.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnderstanding to what extent these might become more frequent in the future, or is there anything that we can do to better manage coastal waters? These are the questions that NOAA was supporting,\u201d said Bianchi.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers have also learned that the plankton blooms \u2014 both poisonous and benign \u2014 tend to coincide with upwelling events, when deep, cold water is churned up toward the surface, providing an infusion of nutrients and energy to the plants, algae and invertebrates hanging around in the water column.<\/p>\n<p>When these upwelling events occur and plankton and algae start appearing in large numbers, other creatures \u2014 such as anchovies and sardines \u2014 move in to feed, which then brings the sea lions, sea birds and dolphins.<\/p>\n<p>And as those animals feed and become sick, such as the sea lion observed on Hermosa Beach, a network of stranding organizations rush in to care for the sick and dying animals.<\/p>\n<p>These organizations, which include the Sausalito-based Marine Mammal Center, and the Santa Barbara-based Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute, are mostly funded by foundations and private donations, but many also receive some federal funding. And as these events become more frequent and increase in severity, so too do these organizations\u2019 financial needs.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, Sam Dover, the director of the Channel Islands rescue organization, said that he typically buys one 40,000 pound load of frozen fish per year to feed the sickened and injured animals he and his team rescue and rehabilitate. This year? \u201cWe already had to refill it. Oh my god. So, it\u2019s things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These organizations also rely on NOAA\u2019s scientists and researchers who are stationed up and down the Pacific coast, from San Diego to Alaska, who help the stranding network understand what\u2019s happening in the wider ocean to fish stocks, ocean temperatures, seasonal feeding sites, etc. This knowledge enables these rescue organizations to prepare for crisis events, such as domoic acid outbreaks, and coordinate their responses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether it be consulting with their scientists around what approach to use when there is an unusual presentation of an animal in waters that we\u2019re not expecting \u2014 be it a whale, often, or a seal or a sea lion \u2014 or a decision on how or whether and where to release an animal that\u2019s been in our care, or whether to place satellite tags on animals that may warrant long term monitoring,\u201d said Jeff Boehm, the Marine Mammal Center\u2019s Chief External Relations Officer. \u201cA lot of practical decisions are made week in, week out, day in, day out.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"thumbnail wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 2170px\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/22cccd6\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4000x2667+0+0\/resize\/2160x1441!\/format\/webp\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fab%2F3a%2F1b0a20ae4fb68afa3be303e61225%2Fgettyimages-2202592294.jpg\" alt=\"Signage outside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. (Bloomberg\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)\" width=\"2160\" height=\"1441\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"caption wp-caption-text\">Signage outside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. (Bloomberg\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cSo when you ask what it would look like without NOAA? You remove any one of the many vital services they provide, and it\u2019s like that child\u2019s game \u2014 that one where you start removing the pieces, and you know eventually it\u2019s going to fall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>And for the animals who die? It\u2019s NOAA scientists and laboratories that perform necropsies to determine the cause of death \u2014 Was it domoic acid poisoning? Or did they ingest a hard piece of plastic? \u2014 and what organs the toxins targeted.<\/p>\n<p>The role the agency plays in the well-being of Californians, its wild ocean creatures and its economy are undersold, said Anderson.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all know the importance of the agency when it comes to forecasting the weather,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s the same for their work in the ocean \u2014 we cannot have any future knowledge of any earth system without these kinds of data and models.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>This article by Susanne Rust and Corinne Purtill was first published by The LA Times on 26 March 2025. Lead Image: Why Are Baby Sea Lions So Skinny? | NOAA Fisheries &#8211; Creator: Eric Boerner.<br \/>\n<\/i><\/p>\n<h2>What you can do<\/h2>\n<p>Wildlife continues to face threats, which include hunting, poaching, illegal trade in animal products, habitat loss as well as a rapidly changing climate.<\/p>\n<p>Become a Wildlife Champion today by supporting our <a href=\"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wildlife-charities-supported-by-focusing-on-wildlife\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">conservation partners<\/a> with a monthly donation as little as $1.<\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" defer=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/install-popup-button.js\" id=\"donorbox-popup-button-installer\"> <\/script><a id=\"preview_inline_popup_button\" class=\"dbox-donation-button\" style=\"background: #0dc5dc; color: #ffffff; text-decoration: none; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; display: flex; gap: 8px; width: fit-content; font-size: 16px; border-radius: 5px; line-height: 24px; padding: 8px 24px;\" href=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/focusing-on-wildlife-needs-your-support?amount=50\" data-reminder-widget-enabled=\"true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==\" fifu-lazy=\"1\" fifu-data-sizes=\"auto\" fifu-data-srcset=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 75w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 100w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 150w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 240w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 320w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 500w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 640w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 800w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 1024w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 1280w, https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg 1600w\" fifu-data-src=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/images\/white_logo.svg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">Donate<\/a><\/p>\n<hr style=\"border-top: 1px solid white;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal research and funding plays a crucial role in enabling scientists to monitor ocean conditions \u2014 including the domoic acid outbreak that is now killing hundreds of marine mammals up and down the California coast. \u201cEverything we do \u2014 all that data we collect \u2014 it couldn\u2019t be done without the federal government,\u201d said Clarissa [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1178,"featured_media":2204089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.fisheries.noaa.gov\/dam-migration-miss\/1280_00wLHZ9U6bhw.jpg?1511375051","fifu_image_alt":"Trump administration cuts to NOAA threaten efforts to save sea lions from toxic plankton","footnotes":""},"categories":[6985,5],"tags":[3419,3654,7845,10350],"class_list":["post-2186301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-wildlife","tag-marine-mammals","tag-national-oceanic-and-atmospheric-administration","tag-sea-lions","tag-trump-administration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2186301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2186301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2204089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2186301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2186301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2186301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}