The Los Angeles City Council advanced a motion Wednesday seeking to improve the city’s response to a toxic algal bloom, and update protocols to help marine mammals who are washed ashore as a result of the natural phenomenon.
Council members approved the motion 11-0. Members Heather Hutt, Curren Price, Nithya Raman and Hugo Soto-Martinez were absent during the vote.
The Department of Animals Services will report on ways to improve the city’s response to the bloom, and the city administrative officer will work to identify grant opportunities or other funding sources to aid in the effort.
Councilwoman Traci Park, who represents the 11th District, covering West L.A. and coastal neighborhoods, introduced the motion on Dec. 1.
The motion was in response to the 2023 widespread toxic algae bloom that sickened or killed more than 1,000 marine animals along the Southern California coast, including at city and county beaches.
In June 2023, Park alongside L.A. County officials and John Warner, the CEO of the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, discussed efforts that summer to care for impacted sea animals.
The MMCC is a nonprofit organization that provides a safe haven for marine mammals year round, providing critical care, food and shelter.
Commonly seen in the summer and lasting several weeks, the bloom of toxic marine algae called pseudo-nitzschia produces domoic acid, a neurotoxin that largely affects marine animals such as sea lions and dolphins.
The toxin damages the brains of the mammals, leaving them dazed and lethargic on beaches, often leading to death. Sea lions are particularly susceptible due their foraging habits, which involve consuming shellfish that eat the deadly algae.
With treatment, sea lions can recover within 72 hours, but some retain brain damage, resulting in memory loss. The damage is determined by how much tainted seafood the animal has devoured.
Park noted that during the 2023 bloom, the MMCC received more than 1,000 calls within a two-week period in June — with reports of animals seizing and foaming from their mouths, symptoms of domoic acid poisoning.
The motion aims to shore up resources, so the city can do its part as well as support the MMCC in responding to future algae blooms.
“Although algal blooms are considered a natural phenomenon, it is believed this event portends future occurrences, as climate change leads to rising ocean temperatures and acidification,” the motion reads.