In response to the current outbreak, the SeaWorld San Diego rescue team has had to double its staff. The team has been receiving roughly 100 calls a day for several weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe kind of went from zero to 60 in two seconds,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
While scientists are still working to determine why, exactly, this year\u2019s bloom has been so extensive, with some posing questions about the potential impact of debris from the Los Angeles wildfires in January, warming oceans fueled by the climate crisis have long been shown to contribute to extreme algae blooms.<\/p>\n
Whatever the exact cause, working on the animal rescue team lately has felt something like working in a high-pressure hospital setting, Smith said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have those middle-of-the-night, intense rescues, and your adrenaline is so high,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd throughout the day you\u2019re just going, going, going.\u201d<\/p>\n After the latest sea lion intake on Tuesday, the animal was added to a \u201cquarantined\u201d pen with four others; one of the sea lions swam around a small pool of water, pawing at a tiny silver fish but not eating it. Elsewhere on the SeaWorld property, a handful of pelicans with suspected domoic acid poisoning huddled together, eyeing newcomers warily. Veterinarians and staff on the rescue team buzzed around, feeding animals and cleaning enclosures.<\/p>\n With her hands full, Smith passed the rescue team\u2019s phone off to Tracy Spahr, SeaWorld\u2019s director of public relations, to help respond to calls.<\/p>\n By the time Spahr returned, she had a long list of other sea lions that were in need of help: one that appeared dead in Coronado, a pup lying by a lifeguard stand in Encinitas, another by the Pacific Beach pier that police had called in about and a fourth one stranded in Ocean Beach.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Scripps [Pier] called and there\u2019s one still there,\u201d Spahr added, reading from a page of hand-written notes that she had taken about each call. \u201c\u2018Alive but struggling. It moves but is acting strange.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Two hours later, SeaWorld\u2019s rescue team arrived at the scene. A large male sea lion sprawled across the sand by the pier, occasionally sitting up to crane his neck back towards the sky. While a crowd of beachgoers gathered to watch, two rescuers \u2013 Kevin Robinson and TG Plein \u2013 pulled their truck onto the beach and unloaded their gear: a metal crate, nets and several plastic boards.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a long month and a half,\u201d Plein told one onlooker, as he answered questions about the recent domoic acid poisonings.<\/p>\n With the help of two lifeguards, Plein and Robinson had to take about 15 minutes to corral the barking sea lion into the crate and load it onto their truck. Though Robinson wasn\u2019t sure whether the animal had been affected by the toxic algae bloom specifically \u2013 it could have been struggling with another type of infection or cancer \u2013 the plan was to bring him back to headquarters, take a blood sample or two and come up with a course of treatment.<\/p>\n For the rescuers, their day was far from over.<\/p>\n They packed up and headed to Ocean Beach, a tight-knit coastal community 20 minutes south. Near the surf, a small sea lion was curled up, unmoving, in the sand. Flies buzzed around its head. A woman in a hot-pink shirt was hunched over it, taking photos. She had first spotted the animal the previous night, she said, and had been praying and singing to it since then.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re here!\u201d she exclaimed to the rescuers, a tear in her eye. \u201cI\u2019m the one who called!\u201d<\/p>\n This time the capture only took a minute or two. The rescuers were again unsure what the specific ailment was, but Robinson suspected cancer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll treat her like she\u2019s DA [domoic acid] initially, give her lots of fluids, maybe some antibiotics, that kind of thing, and run her through a full work-up,\u201d he said. \u201cThen we\u2019ll have a better idea of what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n Robinson, who has worked for SeaWorld for 48 years, has become very accustomed to this routine. Over the last two weeks, as the outbreak had intensified and spread from Malibu down to San Diego, he has been on a rescue run at least once every day.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a little bit tired, but, I mean, this is what rescue is about. It gives you a sense of purpose for the day,\u201d he said. \u201cThe goal is to do some really good work and to help these animals out. There\u2019s your motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n The rescue team\u2019s ultimate hope is that rehabilitated animals can be successfully released back into the wild. So far this year, SeaWorld has returned 10 sea lions that were treated for suspected domoic acid poisoning.<\/p>\n After Robinson and Plein\u2019s mission in Ocean Beach, they headed back to SeaWorld. The rest of the afternoon could involve a lot more action, Robinson said, whether that meant more sea lion rescues or animal intakes. Technically, he works until 5.30pm each day \u2013 but that can easily change, especially as domoic acid poisonings continue. It\u2019s uncertain how long this current toxic algae bloom will last, although previous blooms have sometimes lingered for months.<\/p>\n \u201cIf need be,\u201d Robinson said, starting back towards the rescue truck, \u201cwe\u2019re here 24 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2018If need be, we\u2019re here 24 hours\u2019<\/h2>\n