These are top-level predators. Like us, they eat anchovies, squid, salmon and mussels. They are sentinels for human health, because they share our ecosystems and prey. We may see impacts in sea lions before people - they could be an early warning.
We thought at the time that it was linked to the fact that it was an El Nino year, but we've seen it every year since then. It's a big mystery.
I wouldn't eat shellfish during any sort of harmful algal bloom, especially not if I was pregnant.
I believe that these sea lions that are washing up along the coast are actually acting as important canaries in the coal mine, warning us of some ocean changes that contribute in fact to human health.
