Mortality of sea lions along the central California coast linked to a toxic diatom bloom

Christopher A. Scholin; Frances Gulland; Gregory J. Doucette; Scott Benson; Mark Busman; Francisco P. Chavez; Joe Cordaro; Robert DeLong; Andrew De Vogelaere; James Harvey; Martin Haulena; Kathi Lefebvre; Tom Lipscomb; Susan Loscutoff; Linda J Lowenstine; Roman Marin; Peter E. Miller; William A. McLellan; Peter D R Moeller; Christine L. Powell; Teri Rowles; Paul Silvagni; Mary Silver; Terry Spraker; Vera Trainer; Frances M. Van Dolah

doi:10.1038/47481

Mortality of sea lions along the central California coast linked to a toxic diatom bloom

Christopher A. Scholin, Frances Gulland, Gregory J. Doucette, Scott Benson, Mark Busman, Francisco P. Chavez, Joe Cordaro, Robert DeLong, Andrew De Vogelaere, James Harvey, Martin Haulena, Kathi Lefebvre, Tom Lipscomb, Susan Loscutoff, Linda J Lowenstine, Roman Marin, Peter E. Miller, William A. McLellan, Peter D R Moeller, Christine L. PowellTeri Rowles, Paul Silvagni, Mary Silver, Terry Spraker, Vera Trainer, Frances M. Van Dolah

Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

549 Scopus citations

Abstract

Over 400 California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) died and many others displayed signs of neurological dysfunction along the central California coast during May and June 1998. A bloom of Pseudo-nitzschia australis (diatom) was observed in the Monterey Bay region during the same period. This bloom was associated with production of domoic acid (DA), a neurotoxin that was also detected in planktivorous fish, including the northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax), and in sea lion body fluids. These and other concurrent observations demonstrate the trophic transfer of DA resulting in marine mammal mortality. In contrast to fish, blue mussels (Mytilus edulus) collected during the DA outbreak contained no DA or only trace amounts. Such findings reveal that monitoring of mussel toxicity alone does not necessarily provide adequate warning of DA entering the food web at levels sufficient to harmful marine wildlife and perhaps humans.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	80-84
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature
Volume	403
Issue number	6765
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/47481
State	Published - Jan 6 2000

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Scholin, C. A., Gulland, F., Doucette, G. J., Benson, S., Busman, M., Chavez, F. P., Cordaro, J., DeLong, R., De Vogelaere, A., Harvey, J., Haulena, M., Lefebvre, K., Lipscomb, T., Loscutoff, S., Lowenstine, L. J., Marin, R., Miller, P. E., McLellan, W. A., Moeller, P. D. R., ... Van Dolah, F. M. (2000). Mortality of sea lions along the central California coast linked to a toxic diatom bloom. Nature, 403(6765), 80-84. https://doi.org/10.1038/47481

Mortality of sea lions along the central California coast linked to a toxic diatom bloom. / Scholin, Christopher A.; Gulland, Frances; Doucette, Gregory J.; Benson, Scott; Busman, Mark; Chavez, Francisco P.; Cordaro, Joe; DeLong, Robert; De Vogelaere, Andrew; Harvey, James; Haulena, Martin; Lefebvre, Kathi; Lipscomb, Tom; Loscutoff, Susan; Lowenstine, Linda J; Marin, Roman; Miller, Peter E.; McLellan, William A.; Moeller, Peter D R; Powell, Christine L.; Rowles, Teri; Silvagni, Paul; Silver, Mary; Spraker, Terry; Trainer, Vera; Van Dolah, Frances M.

In: Nature, Vol. 403, No. 6765, 06.01.2000, p. 80-84.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Scholin, CA, Gulland, F, Doucette, GJ, Benson, S, Busman, M, Chavez, FP, Cordaro, J, DeLong, R, De Vogelaere, A, Harvey, J, Haulena, M, Lefebvre, K, Lipscomb, T, Loscutoff, S, Lowenstine, LJ, Marin, R, Miller, PE, McLellan, WA, Moeller, PDR, Powell, CL, Rowles, T, Silvagni, P, Silver, M, Spraker, T, Trainer, V & Van Dolah, FM 2000, 'Mortality of sea lions along the central California coast linked to a toxic diatom bloom', Nature, vol. 403, no. 6765, pp. 80-84. https://doi.org/10.1038/47481

Scholin, Christopher A. ; Gulland, Frances ; Doucette, Gregory J. ; Benson, Scott ; Busman, Mark ; Chavez, Francisco P. ; Cordaro, Joe ; DeLong, Robert ; De Vogelaere, Andrew ; Harvey, James ; Haulena, Martin ; Lefebvre, Kathi ; Lipscomb, Tom ; Loscutoff, Susan ; Lowenstine, Linda J ; Marin, Roman ; Miller, Peter E. ; McLellan, William A. ; Moeller, Peter D R ; Powell, Christine L. ; Rowles, Teri ; Silvagni, Paul ; Silver, Mary ; Spraker, Terry ; Trainer, Vera ; Van Dolah, Frances M. / Mortality of sea lions along the central California coast linked to a toxic diatom bloom. In: Nature. 2000 ; Vol. 403, No. 6765. pp. 80-84.

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abstract = "Over 400 California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) died and many others displayed signs of neurological dysfunction along the central California coast during May and June 1998. A bloom of Pseudo-nitzschia australis (diatom) was observed in the Monterey Bay region during the same period. This bloom was associated with production of domoic acid (DA), a neurotoxin that was also detected in planktivorous fish, including the northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax), and in sea lion body fluids. These and other concurrent observations demonstrate the trophic transfer of DA resulting in marine mammal mortality. In contrast to fish, blue mussels (Mytilus edulus) collected during the DA outbreak contained no DA or only trace amounts. Such findings reveal that monitoring of mussel toxicity alone does not necessarily provide adequate warning of DA entering the food web at levels sufficient to harmful marine wildlife and perhaps humans.",

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