A recent surge in weakened and malnourished sea lions found along the Northern California coast is mystifying scientists and keeping workers hopping at the newly expanded Marine Mammal Center here. "We're way ahead in the numbers this year. We have twice as many animals as we should," marine veterinarian Bill Van Bonn said after examining Charcoal, a sick harbor seal.Experts at the non-profit center, located on wind-swept Marin headlands just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, believe the perplexing spike in malnourished sea lions along several hundred miles of coast could be due to a decline in populations of smaller fish that young seals and sea lions eat while developing.
"It's likely a problem with the food web, something lower in the food chain that is affected, but we are not sure what it is yet," said Van Bonn.
For 35 years, the seaside hospital has treated and studied ailing elephant seals and other coastal mammals in bath tubs and makeshift facilities. Yesterday, as more and more sick animals are needing attention, a new US$32 million building was unveiled that expands the center's capacity and technical ability at a crucial time.
On a recent afternoon, center staff decked out in rubber boots and yellow slickers busily tended to about 130 marine mammals lolling in the center's new pens, which are shaded by solar panels and feature pools with freshly filtered water.
The center treats an average of 600 marine mammals a year, but last year more than 800 were rescued. In a recent week, staff rescued 10 more sea lions a day than usual.
"It's concerning," said Jeff Boehm, the center's executive director.
The only bright side, Boehm said, is that the center is now better equipped to help solve the riddle.
Elephant seals, harbor seals and California sea lions make up the bulk of the patients, but the center also is called upon to help untangle whales caught in fishing nets, or to perform necropsies on dead animals that wash ashore. Only about 50 percent of the animals rescued make it out alive, but all of them help in the center's scientific mission: more than 14,000 genetic and tissue samples have been stored.
The Marine Mammal Center has also sought to have a lighter environmental footprint in its new home: ceiling tiles are made of seaweed and structural beams are composed of partially recycled materials. The solar panels used to shade the pens also provide about 10 percent of the electricity consumed.
These days, as the ocean's acidity rises due to climate change, much of the center's work will be focused on studying how this changing sea chemistry is affecting the mammals that live within its 965-km-reach.
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