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San Jose Mercury News
May 23, 2004
LAGUNA BEACH – A kitchen-sized trash bag. Four latex balloons. A handful of polystyrene foam. A two-inch piece of white plastic.
Marine-mammal experts discovered these items in the stomach of a 56-pound California sea lion that was found on the beach at Crystal Cove this week.
Environmentalists and marine scientists are growing more concerned about the harmful impact of pollution on marine animals.
Nationally, pollution harms 100,000 marine mammals and a million birds each year, reports the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach.
``In actuality, it is likely that this number is much higher,'' said Beate Litz, the center's director of education, because the statistics represent only the cases that are reported.
In 2001, the center treated two animals with pollution-related injuries. The number jumped to nine in 2002 and nine in 2003.
Rick Wilson, chair of the Laguna Beach chapter of Surfrider, said his organization, which helps coordinate beach cleanups and public-awareness programs, often hears of sea birds with hooks caught in their throats, tangled in fishing line or killed by swallowing polystyrene foam.
``I think that the sea lion's stomach was full of human-caused debris is cause for alarm,'' Wilson said. ``This is the first time I've heard of that found in a sea lion..''
The problem is not confined to the ocean. Six majestic California condors have died of lead poisoning, and one 4-month-old condor in the mountains behind Fillmore in Ventura County died after ingesting bottle caps and shards of glass.
Recently, four Orange County cities -- Laguna Hills, Huntington Beach, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano -- banned polystyrene foam from city buildings and city-sponsored events. Laguna Beach and Aliso Viejo are considering similar bans.
The young sea lion -- nicknamed Ping -- was discovered 30 feet from the ocean Sunday by a group of tourists. A team from the mammal center took the listless sea lion to its treatment facility on Laguna Canyon Road.
``He was at least 30 to 40 pounds underweight and so emaciated that you could see his skeletal structure,'' Litz said. ``His eyes were dry, suggesting he was very dehydrated. We put him in a pen, covered him with a blanket and put a heat light on him.''
The center tried to save Ping, but a day and a half later, he died.
An autopsy, performed by the center's veterinarian, Richard Evans, quickly revealed the problem: Ping's stomach was stuffed with trash.
``It looked like when you go to the beach and the high tide has left a mark on the sand leaving sea grass crumpled with trash,'' Litz said. ``Our jaws just dropped when we saw it.''
Evans said there is no doubt the contents of the sea lion's stomach contributed to its death. ``The large amount of garbage impacted the animal's stomach so that nothing was able to come in or go out,'' he said.
Laguna Beach Mayor Cheryl Kinsman says public education is critical.
``This is a very good example of what the trash we throw out does to animals,'' she said. ``That animal died because humans did not dispose of their trash properly.''
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