at the California Marine Mammal Centre
Val and I took Donan to the California Marine Mammal Centre because of Donan's sudden interest in whales (it seemed to come out of nowhere). During this trip, I learned that the centre caters mainly to the sick and injured seals and sea lions rescued along the shores of the Bay Area. The centre did not have cetaceans (e.g., whales, dolphins) in the facility. As a public health microbiologist , I became very interested when the docent we talked with mentioned that California sea lions are getting leptospirosis (leading to kidney disease). Leptospirosis is caused by a spirochaete bacteria called Leptospira . Humans and animals typically get infected if they wade into urine-contaminated water (e.g., flood). Aside from leptospirosis, marine mammals are also at risk of being poisoned by domoic acid. This toxin is produced by algal blooms, or "red tide". The toxin is particularly harmful to marine mammals due to bioaccumulation, the increase of concentration of domoic acid in t