Conservation and Research
Making a positive impact on our ocean and inspiring others to do the same.
California borders the vast Pacific Ocean, which accounts for nearly half of the world’s ocean area and supports a significant portion of the planet’s biodiversity. Just offshore, the California Current serves as a vital feeding ground for billions of fish, mammals and birds. These consistently cool waters contribute to the state’s mild and welcoming coastal climate.
Los Angeles County has more marine mammal rescues per mile of coastline than anywhere else in the country but also the least remaining critical shoreline habitat in all of California. Characterized by rock formations and beaches where people and buildings aren’t prevalent, critical shoreline habitats are essential for marine mammals, allowing them to rest, wait out storms, give birth, nurse pups, or recover when sick or injured.
Climate change is a complex challenge, threatening marine mammals in many different ways. Each threat alone is a challenge, and together they pose a much bigger problem.
Increasing temperatures and changing ocean chemistry contribute to larger and more frequent toxic algal blooms. Shifts in ocean temperatures affect prey availability and create more competition for food. Changing weather patterns and stronger, more frequent storms lead to beach erosion that encroaches on vital resting areas – and in Southern California, this means increased strandings on beaches heavily populated by people.
Young animals, like many of the seal and sea lion pups in our care, are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts, as they rely on stable conditions for successful weaning and development. Marine mammals are considered climate sentinels because their behavior and physiology are sensitive to environmental changes.
Photo by Marlin Harms
When conditions are right, waters off the coast of California can experience large-scale toxic algal blooms that are capable of sickening hundreds of sea lions in a matter of weeks, causing them to wash ashore at an alarming rate – sometimes a dozen a day.
Many different marine animals are susceptible to the domoic acid toxin, from seals and sea lions to whales and dolphins and even seabirds. Along the Los Angeles coast, one of the most common species to strand due to the effects of domoic acid is the California sea lion.
Humpback whales face many threats from vessel strikes near busy coastal ports to shifts in food availability as waters warm due to climate change. But the leading human-caused threat is entanglement in fishing gear like traps, pots or gillnets.
Presently, there are not enough experts on the West Coast with the highly specialized training necessary to respond to the growing number of entangled whales. The Marine Mammal Care Center is filling this gap by equipping our team with the skills and training needed to free whales from deadly entanglements.
We actively seek out strategic partnerships to expand awareness for the work we do. One example is our participation as one of the primary care facilities in the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN), which consists of 36 other wildlife rehabilitation organizations working under the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response. In the event of an oil spill, MMCC will stabilize, wash, and care for affected marine mammals.
We also partner with many local ocean conservation organizations such as Altasea, Oceana, The Sea Change Agency, Cabrillo Aquarium, the six other marine mammal care centers serving the California coastline, and many others to promote awareness about our fragile and critical ocean ecosystem.
As a partner in NOAA’s Stranding Network, the Marine Mammal Care Center helps grow scientific understanding of the animal populations we treat by tracking the occurrence of disease and human-related stranding events. Our experts collaborate with scientists from around the country to conduct non-invasive research that helps us learn more about marine mammals and their ocean environment.
Pollution from agricultural runoff, wastewater from sewage treatment, and urban stormwater contributes to harmful algal blooms, which release deadly toxins and are one of the biggest threats to California’s marine mammal populations.
That’s why water conservation is critical to the health of marine mammals and their ocean environment. The transformation of water-thirsty grassy areas to native or California Friendly® landscaping is a practical and impactful step toward water conservation and climate resilience.
Reducing water waste can alleviate stress on freshwater resources and limit the volume of polluted runoff entering the ocean. Switching to a drought-tolerant landscape saves a significant amount of water, reducing water bills and saving on the energy that would have been used to transport and treat the water.
Native plants that thrive in California’s climate create sustainable gardens by mitigating erosion and improving water retention in the ground. Plus, these landscapes provide habitats for local wildlife, fostering biodiversity and ecosystem resilience in the face of environmental stressors.
Although dolphins are prolific along the coastline of Los Angeles, encountering one on a beach – especially a live animal – is alarming. Dolphins can strand for a variety of reasons, including illness, injury or disorientation. They are also known to suffer impacts from the same toxic algal blooms that affect sea lions. Dolphins spend their entire lives at sea and are not built to survive out of the water, so it’s important to call for help immediately.
Our amazing volunteer team participates in a monthly beach clean up at our local San Pedro beaches to pick up trash like plastic, styrofoam, and straws. Beach cleanup projects are a safe way to restore oceans and clear debris from beaches. They also help clear a direct runway for our patients to be released on.
If you would like to join us on a beach clean up or organize a clean up for a group, contact – kwong@marinemammalcare.org
