California Beaches Poisoned By Visiting Sea Lions
Nature is chock full of animals that can ruin a person’s day. Lions, snakes, and sharks have earned a bad reputation over the years; still, it’s pretty likely that not a lot of people think of sea lions as some threat to their lives. That might be changing, though, because sea lions are wreaking havoc just by taking a visit to the beach.
Most of the problems stem from mercury. Contaminated water makes it into plants and plankton, and thanks to the food chain it ultimately ends up in the bodies of predators — sea lions included. When they come to beaches, they molt and leave behind fur that’s full of mercury; that in turn leads to polluted beaches, dangerous environments, and unhealthy animals. It wouldn’t be as big a problem if the oceans weren’t contaminated with mercury, but that’s the end result of centuries of pollution by humans.
Outside of testing and research, there’s no quick fix to the beaches, sea lions, and everything in between. That won’t stop scientists from trying, but mercury’s a tough element to deal with — and that won’t change anytime soon.
