Poor Baby Sea Lion

Poor Baby, originally uploaded by Twitchietai.

This tiny sea lion was sunbathing very close to Joe and I yesterday. If someone else hadn't pointed him out we probably wouldn't have even noticed him.

We had the feeling that this little guy was sick from ingesting toxic algae. California researchers say a virulent outbreak of domoic acid is killing hundreds of marine animals and birds off the Pacific coast. Domoic acid is produced by microscopic algae that have flourished in recent years because of overfishing, destruction of wetlands, and pollution.
The acid accumulates in shellfish and fish and is then passed on to the birds and animals that eat them.

There wasn't much we could do for this baby. The marine rescues are inundated with calls and usually wait 24 hours before rescuing an animal. Also, high tide was coming quickly and he was going to be back out to sea within an hour. I felt very frustrated and sad because there was nothing I could do. We can only hope that this little one is still ok.