Largest Ocean Die-Off, West Coast - Global Extinction Potential

S. California fishermen ‘skunked… haven’t seen a squid’, usually 10,000+ lbs/day — ‘Complete crashes’ at oyster hatcheries — Sardines, mackerel missing in areas — Pelican sites alarmingly deserted — Record # of sick sea lions — Ultra-rare whales appear after decades — Mammals, birds, fish in odd places

Published: June 17th, 2014 at 3:23 am ET By ENENews  78 comments

KPBS, June 11, 2014: Unusual Fish Catches Off San Diego Signal Large-Scale El Niño [...] “We’ve already started to see very unusual fish catches here,” [Tim Barnett, Scripps Institution of Oceanography said.] “Yellowfin tuna was caught in May — that has never happened before to anybody’s recollection [and] dorado Mahi Mahi — first of June [...] has never happened” [...]

Pete Thomas Outdoors, June 13, 2014: Unusual catches, whales in odd places, pelican woes could be signs that impending El Niño will be significant [...] mammals, birds and fish showing up where they don’t typically belong [...] Earlier this week two Bryde’s whales [were] off Huntington Beach [...] Sightings off California, however, are extremely rare. [...] between 1991 and 2005, there was only one [...] Less than a week earlier, a large pod of pilot whales showed off Dana Point [...] nearly 20 years since they were last spotted off Southern California. In late March, false killer whales, another ultra-rare visitor [were] off Orange County. [...] Sam Anderson, a UC Davis biologist [...] would typically encounter tens of thousands of breeding pairs of pelicans, there were only sparse numbers. Some nesting sites were alarmingly deserted. […] Anderson, however, was reluctant to place all of the blame for the pelicans’ plight on the developing El Niño.

Wall St. Journal, June 7, 2014: Record numbers of distressed sea lions have washed ashore in California for a second straight year [...] a record 367 California sea lions have been admitted to the Marine Mammal Center here just north of San Francisco, nearly five times the average. [...] The problem may have implications for humans, researchers say. “Sea lions are living and feeding on the same resource as humans are.” [...] Evidence suggests a problem with one of the animal’s major food sources, sardines [...] Some researchers suggest rising toxicity [...]

Mark Rayor (Baja California’s East Cape region), April 13, 2014: The bait situation is still very grim [...] with sardines and mackerel nowhere to be found.

Marin Independent Journal, June 16, 2014:”We are seeing an issue of availability of (oyster) seed [...] There have been complete crashes at these hatcheries.”

Long Beach Press-Telegram, June 13, 2014: The squid boats that net the market squid commercially get an average of six tons nightly [...] This year the boats are getting “skunked” and haven’t seen a squid for the last three nights.

See also: “Weird things” seen on California coast: Previously unknown toxic algae proliferating; Unprecedented mass of oxygen-poor water nearshore — TV: Mystery strandings of large squid covered miles and experts baffled… “killing themselves, it’s just really weird” (VIDEO)
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