old3bob

I've gotten tangled up in kelp after wiping on waves, its a little scary when one is underwater freeing yourself from it. There were also plenty of moray ells in the rocky reef where I surfed, I worried about those a fair amount because if they bite into you they don't let go!! (and as you probably know they have very powerful jaws; I image they are much bigger in size where you are at?)

Los AngelesCNN — Along some 70 miles of Southern California coastline, usually curious and playful sea lions are attacking humans in the water. The animals are being poisoned by the ocean they live in, experts say, citing reports of sick sea lions at unprecedented levels. And many are dying. Pheobe Beltran, a 15-year-old girl in Long Beach, was swimming on March 30, when a sea lion attacked her right arm. “I was just so scared, so shocked, but I still felt the immense pain on my arms, like, over and over again,” Beltran, who was finishing up a 1,000-yard swim during tryouts to become a junior lifeguard, told CNN affiliate KCAL. Beltran’s arm is covered in bites, bruises and scratches, but she didn’t require stitches, she said. Up the coast in Ventura County on March 21, a surfer near Oxnard, was bitten by a sea lion in open water. The attack left him “shaken” to his core, he said. The sea lion “erupted from the water, hurtling toward” RJ LaMendola at top speed – its “expression was feral, almost demonic, devoid of the curiosity or playfulness I’d always associated with sea lions,” LaMendola wrote on social media of the “harrowing and traumatic experience” that included the sea lion stalking him all the way back to shore. Sea lion bite marks are seen on Phoebe Beltran's arm. KCAL/KCBS The cause is less demonic and more likely domoic acid toxicosis caused by toxic algal bloom, often referred to as red tide, experts say. “The sea lions are coming in almost comatose by the time they’re stranding. Something is happening in this particular bloom that seems worse on multiple levels,” John Warner, CEO of the Marine Mammal Care Center in Los Angeles, told CNN. “But volume-wise, it’s definitely the worst we’ve ever seen.” Related articleHundreds of dolphins and sea lions have washed up dead or sick in California amid toxic algae outbreak Dolphins also have been affected. When the neurological toxin gets into sea lions’ food supply, it causes them to have trouble breathing and experience seizures, including a type of seizure called “stargazing” in which sea lions extend their heads back for an unnaturally long time with their eyes closed. “When they are affected with this toxin, they’re out of their minds,” Warner said. “They’re scared. They’re totally disoriented and frightened. They really don’t understand where they are. They’re struggling to even get out of the water, so they don’t drown.” During this time, the sea lions can experience a “hyper-energetic fight or flight kind of aggressive or scared behavior,” Warner said, adding, “if someone swims or walks next to them and they don’t see the animal or the animal doesn’t see them, that’s where some negative interactions can take place.” A sick California sea lion with possible domoic acid poisoning is rescued to be evaluated by volunteers in Santa Barbara, California, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by David Swanson / AFP) (Photo by DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images) David Swanson/AFP/Getty Images The center gets 3,000 to 4,000 calls per year about sick and stranded animals when there is no emergency. There have been more than 2,000 calls to its hotline in the past five weeks alone. Warner likened the deluge of calls to a “tsunami.” Human-induced climate change makes unwanted changes to the ecosystem The toxin, domoic acid, is naturally present in the Pacific Ocean. Now, a process called upwelling is responsible for pushing the acid into the aquatic food chain. As winds churn up cold water off the Southern California coast, sediment rich in nutrients is swirled up from the ocean floor and becomes feed for smaller creatures in the water who are eaten by larger ones like pelicans, whales and all kinds of fish. The nutrients are a “huge amount of food that is just everywhere in the water table,” Warner said, explaining how the abundant toxic algae enter the food chain. Human-caused climate change and land development are also making unwanted changes to the ecosystem and feeding the outsized toxic algal blooms, Warner said. The warmer temperatures on the ocean surface are more acidic, which favors algae. Nitrogen fertilizer from farming is also running into the ocean, carried by rivers and streams, which feeds the algae just like it feeds plants on land. While these blooms used to happen every few years, they are now happening annually, according to Warner. A stranded California sea lion suffering from suspected domoic acid poisoning lays on the beach on March 27, 2025 in Oxnard, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Mario Tama/Getty Images “It’s when it gets out of whack that it produces these large toxic blooms that have such a huge effect on the apex predators – especially the sea lions, dolphins and marine birds,” Warner said. In 2023, the Marine Mammal Care Center reported the worst algae event in recorded history in Southern California. This year is already seeing an increase, not just in the number of animals sickened by the bloom but also in the intensity of their sickness when they’re found stranded on beaches. video Related videoSea lions sickened by toxic algae released back into ocean “Somewhere between 50% to 65% of animals will recover and go back to the ocean,” Warner said, noting the toxicity levels in the ocean are much higher this year and it is proving harder to heal some sea lions. “We have quite a few animals on site that we’ve had now for three weeks that are still really in more of a comatose state, and it’s questionable how many of those are going to recover.” This could mean a lower survival rate this bloom compared to past ones, Warner said. Working to bring the animals back to health About 80% of the sea lions they have treated this year are pregnant, Warner estimates, noting the toxic domoic acid often forces the mothers to expel their fetuses to survive. “Every day that the mom still is pregnant is really affecting whether she will survive this,” Warner said, adding the overall sea lion population is still robust but that this trend could have implications for the species down the line. “It is getting to the point where elephant seal pups and sea lion pups are stranding now in high numbers,” Warner said. To bring the animals back to health, the Marine Mammal Care Center works to flush the water-soluble toxin out of the sea lions. Rescued sea lions suffering from malnutrition eat fish as they rehabilitate at CIMWI (Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute) on March 27, 2025 near Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Mario Tama/Getty Images “In addition to giving the anti-seizure medications … which will prevent permanent brain damage, we’re also giving a lot of fluids, a lot of nutrition to flush that out of the system,” Warner said, explaining in the beginning they tube-feed the sea lions twice a day. Within about a week, they are normally able to resume feeding themselves, but this year the recovery is taking longer, he said, adding they try to get the animals healthy and back to the ocean as quickly as possible, in part, so that there’s space to care for more ill animals. The center has also opened a triage site in its parking lot that allows for the care of around 25 additional animals. Domoic toxin poisoning is a death sentence for dolphins This toxic poisoning is also deadly for dolphins. This year is the worst the center has witnessed for the mammals, with more than 70 strandings in Los Angeles County alone. “There’s no rehabilitation that’s going to work with dolphins. Most of the time when they strand, they’re already deceased. The ones that are struggling on the beaches that are seizing,” Warner explained. “The best thing we can do is humanely euthanize them which, unfortunately, we’ve had to do more than we’ve ever done before.” About 20 of the stranded dolphins that they’ve encountered this year are still alive. A stranded dolphin suffering from suspected domoic acid poisoning on the beach in Long Beach, California. Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles So far this year, the center has treated 240 animals as of the end of March, but they have only budgeted to treat 300 animals for the entire year. The budget includes costs for medicine, food, personnel, freezer storage and animal disposal expenses. LaMendola, the surfer attacked by a sea lion, was very close to the Channel Islands – the main breeding ground for California sea lions. According to the center, 85% of sea lions are born on the islands in June. “This seems to be the epicenter of these domoic acid events the last four years,” Warner said. CNN’s Samantha Lindell contributed to this story.

a certain depth of evil was not underestimated, just the quick speed of its takeover....Btw. good and evil are parts spiritual teachings even if some are in denial or don't want to deal with same.

Btw we have many Buddhists here or those leaning that way who I'd say s it safe to say know that The Noble Eight Fold path does not ignore Dharma or adharma per the founder of Buddhism, nor by its many various schools and their founders over the past 2500 years or so; but If members and mods here want to do so then have at it...

since the beginning of time, in various forms, (besides more recent history) Luke you sound like a "smart fella" and a by-passer who espouses same?

for those that have reached la la land its a moot point, for the rest of us such must be dealt with thus not by-passed

ah sounds like a rhetorical question...do you believe that in relative realms that good and evil take place?

I was once face to face, eye to eye with a sea lion (about a 18 inches away) when it suddenly surfaced right next to my surfboard as I was paddling out to a point break, I also saw its teeth, anyway we were both surprized to say the least but he swam away and I sat up for a moment on the board to calm down, Anyway the encounter ended without conflict. (back in the late 60's) And there were the Sea Lions at Sea world which were very tame and fun to watch in the little shows their trainers had with them.

...and adharmic includes not only the manipulation of elemental forces but the enslaving of or harm to the minds and hearts of other Beings or the enthrallment of their souls! but of course "spiritual" people know this and counter in both seen and unseen ways...

Yin and Yang do not plan or hunger for takeover...(willfully as Beings) Btw, there is following Dharma or a twisting to adharma, which basic elemental forces do not have individual willpower and designs to manipulate as Beings may do, thus we are talking about major differences. And not just new age concepts. At the end of the cosmic cycle the Great Tao remains while all else returns.

kind of a trick question, change to ,"can a dog fully realize Buddha nature?) , then there should be no problemo.

right do not lean too much on a teacher, which is not cool. then again our ego's can not see our own ego's very well but some one else often can....and point same out.

there is no shortage of "adverse" astral beings and those driven by them all over the place !

as above so below, we wish...the various heavens are ruled justly by sovereign beings, but it seems that on battlefield Earth most anything goes...

Most of us are not advanced enough to really turn things inside out or upside down and flip evil, and if only done idealistically things may end up worse. Anyway here is a saying along that line: "Meditation in Affliction Assailed by afflictions, we discover Dharma And find the way to liberation. Thank you, evil forces! When sorrows invade the mind, we discover Dharma And find lasting happiness. Thank you, sorrows! Through harm caused by spirits we discover Dharma And find fearlessness. Thank you, ghosts and demons! Through people's hate we discover Dharma And find benefits and happiness. Thank you, those who hate us! Through cruel adversity, we discover Dharma And find the unchanging way. Thank you, adversity! Through being impelled to by others, we discover Dharma And find the essential meaning. Thank you, all who drive us on! We dedicate our merit to you all, to repay your kindness". - Gyalwa Longchenpa

looks safe, no teeth?

kissing your dog is sloppy! (more so after they lick their butt!)

any Buddhist parallels?

WTF (but the spelling looks right)

words to define words....

This could sound like slop to some classical music purists but its rather catchy...

is that what a lot of EM does to one's hair?

yep, and ET was on top of the tower...

the picture posted above is most likely Devils tower in Wyo, Satan butte is in AZ....totally different places and history and look.