The Marine Mammal Care Center, which has been struggling for nearly four months to keep pace with a toxic algae bloom that sickened and killed animals all along the California coast, celebrated the release of four sea lion pups back to the ocean Wednesday, while also marking the end of the algae bloom.
Care Center officials said recent testing of ocean water showed no more signs of the domoic acid algae bloom that devastated marine life for 14 weeks.
“We had this toxic algae bloom that lasted 14 weeks, the longest ever on record — the one before that was in (2023) at 8 1/2 weeks,” Marine Mammal Care Center CEO John Warner told CBS2 during a morning event to release the four sea lion pups. “The length of time, the toxicity of the algae, the multi-toxin algae event and just the mortality rate of this year’s event was by far the worst we’ve seen ever in Southern California.”
The four pups released by MMCC near the Venice Pier Wednesday morning did not suffer from the toxic algae, but two were malnourished and two others had shark bites. But they were treated by the center at a time when it was overwhelmed with marine life sickened by the bloom. Hundreds of animals such as sea lions, pelicans, whales and dolphins fell prey to the illness, known as domoic acid toxicosis.
Authorities said consumption of the toxin can cause seizures, aggressive behavior, lethargy, dehydration, vomiting and even death in a variety of marine mammals, dolphins and seabirds. Multiple incidents were recorded in recent months of animals such as sea lions acting particularly aggressive toward beach-goers. Other animals were seen lying listlessly on beaches.
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion brought by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath to provide $100,000 to the Marine Mammal Care Center to support its response to the bloom.
The motion noted that the organization had cared for at least 410 marine mammals so far in 2025 as of early May, but its annual budget only accommodates 300 animals.
Authorities said center staff wound up treating more than 500 animals during the first several months of the year, while fielding thousands of calls on its hotline about sick animals.
`This motion delivers critical support to the frontline responders rescuing and caring for these animals, while also helping us prepare for a future where these events will be more frequent and more severe due to climate change,” Horvath said in a statement when the funding motion was approved last month. “We must act urgently and continue to invest in solutions to protect both public health and our coastal ecosystem.”