“It’s like crime scene investigation” in ocean

Interview with Kristen Milligan(transcript excerpts), Oregon State University marine ecologist, by WheepingWillow, June 13, 2014 (emphasis added):

• 4:30 in — “There‘s other issues going on, like with  dolphins and sea lions… There’s all these different stresses happening and certainly Fukushima is one.”
• 8:30 in –” The problems we’re having in Monterey Bay, I think it’s pretty different than the sea star wasting. It is a very similar, heightened — scary, you know. Because the dolphins and sea lions, especially the dolphins, they’re moving way offshore, miles and miles and miles. So those animals are more likely to be bathed in whatever — if there is significant levels of radiation to cause that — they’re more likely to be bathed on a chronic long-term level in that stuff, because they’re out in that… So we’re getting different types of exposure between the marine mammals and starfish. I can’t say anything, because it’s not, and this is where I wish — I’m looking forward to seeing what reports we get from the scientists that are just meeting to assess this… [Sea stars are] not like the big tuna that are starting to show signals of radiation. They’re not like dolphins or whales that are transiting the ocean waters all the time to areas that are closer to Japan.”

Santa Cruz Hilltromper, Aug 13, 2014: The Summer of Crazy… Monterey Bay is a strange place these days…. WTF, Monterey Bay? It’s like we don’t even know you anymore. Why is our beloved Bay suddenly so moody?… All the bay’s food, including the whale food, is concentrated near the shore [in a] very narrow feeding corridor… there isn’t much food along the Pacific Coast anywhere [and] the whales and other animals may be here, [MBARI’s resident nutrient monitor Ken Johnson] says, “because there’s no food anywhere else.”… Del Monte Beach was green… sea lettuce, from Sand City to Monterey, folks were a little freaked out… Mike Graham, an associate professor at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, has seen similar events, though admittedly slightly smaller… So while primary (plankton), secondary (anchovy), and tertiary (whales and such) production has been crammed into the narrow strip of nutrient-rich waters by the shoreline, there isn’t much happening farther out in the bay.

Jason Smith of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories: Domoic acid… has been present in all but one weekly sample since early spring…. This is also very weird… not sure exactly why it’s happening… “California sea lions are… demonstrating negative effects.”

Andrew DeVogelaere, Research Coordinator for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary: “Unfortunately we don’t understand the ocean well enough to be able to tell you with certainty what’s happening as it’s happening”…It’s not so much that there were more animals than normal… they were packed in close by the shoreline… action (i.e. whale sightings) was pretty slow offshore… “Strange days in the Monterey Bay right now. It’s not the normal year by any means… Lots of mysteries to solve. It’s like the CSI of the sea.”

Full interview with Milligan available here