The Ocean Off The California Coast Is “Turning Into a Desert”

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The Ocean Off The California Coast Is “Turning Into a Desert”

The Pacific ocean appears to be dying and the entire food chain collapsing. Huge numbers of wild animal populations are dying as a result.

While natural causes in the environment are partially to blame, so too are the corporations of man; there is no doubt that the effects of Fukushima radiation is devastating while the cumulative effect of modern chemicals and agricultural waste is also tainting the water and disrupting reproduction.

Radiation from the Fukushima Nuclear Plant in Japan has unleashed untold levels of radiation into the ocean and onto Pacific shores, while the media either does not report the gravity of the worst disaster in human history, or chooses to play it down

Experts concerned that the food chain in the Pacific ocean is “crashing” have been asking “where have all the fish gone?”

Recently, the collapse of the sardine population caused a crisis whereby fishery along the entire West coast had to be closed

Thousands of Sea lions  have been washing up on California beaches and have people wondering if this is related to the Fukushima disaster or to warming water in the Pacific.

The gruesome auklet deaths came just as scientists around the globe started to notice a significant uptick in mass-mortality events in the marine world, from sea urchins to fish and birds.

The stories are out there and the information is easy to find.

A new report by Ocean Health says in no uncertain terms that the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California is turning into a desert. Once full of life, it is now becoming barren, and marine mammals, seabirds and fish are starving as a result.

They write:  The ocean off the coast of California is “turning into a desert” – marine ecosystem crash is unprecedented

The waters of the Pacific off the coast of California are a clear, shimmering blue today, so transparent it’s possible to see the sandy bottom below. Viewing the ocean from the state’s famous craggy headlands, it’s impossible to know that the ocean’s unusual clarity is hiding a cruel beauty: clear water is a sign that the ocean is turning into a desert, and the chain reaction that causes that bitter clarity is perhaps most obvious on the beaches of the Golden State, where thousands of emaciated sea lion pups are stranded. Sea lions are a ubiquitous part of the Californian landscape – they’re up and down beaches, piers and wharfs, with an overall population estimated at around 300,000. They have the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to thank for their existence, passed by Congress in response to concerns about dwindling populations of marine mammals, including sea lions.
Now, the familiar creatures have become victims of their own success, with some arguing that their population may have reached natural capacity, and others blaming it on changing environmental conditions in California. Over the last three years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has noticed a growing number of strandings on the beaches of California and up into the Pacific north-west. In 2013, 1,171 sea lions were stranded, and 2,700 have already stranded in 2015 – a sign that something is seriously wrong, as pups don’t normally wind up on their own until later in the spring and early summer. The problem, explains Justin Viezbicke of NOAA, is those crystal-clear waters. “The main contributing factor that we’re looking at right now and talking about with the biologists and climatologists on the Channel Islands [a major sea lion rookery] is the lack of upwelling. We haven’t had the strong north winds that drive the currents that create it, and because it hasn’t materialized – it’s moved the prey further and deeper from the moms that are foraging.” –Guardian

Nate Mantua, NOAA: “[An unusually large number of sea lions stranding in 2013 was a red flag] there was a food availability problem even before the ocean got warm.” Johnson: This has never happened before… It’s incredible. It’s so unusual, and there’s no really good explanation for it. There’s also a good chance that the problem will continue, said a NOAA research scientist in climatology, Nate Mantua.
Experts blame a lack of food due to unusually warm ocean waters. NOAA declared an El Nino, the weather pattern that warms the Pacific, a few weeks ago. The water is three and a half to six degrees warmer than the average, according to Mantua, because of a lack of north wind on the West Coast. Ordinarily, the north wind drives the current, creating upwelling that brings forth the nutrients that feed the sardines, anchovies and other fish that adult sea lions feed on. –ERN

70 Comments

  1. But everyone be sure to get out there and vote for your favorite politician that has accepted bribes from the companies that are polluting the ocean with oil spills

    • Vote for Bernie Sanders! He is the only candidate not sponsored by corporations that are destroying this planet and the only candidate that takes seriously the global climate changes we are facing.
      #FeelTheBern
      #TimeForPlanB

      • Seriously you must be smoking something is it green and leafy and has a funky smell. You and Bernie would make a good match then.

  2. But everyone be sure to get out there and vote for your favorite politician that has accepted bribes from the companies that are polluting the ocean with oil spills

    • Vote for Bernie Sanders! He is the only candidate not sponsored by corporations that are destroying this planet and the only candidate that takes seriously the global climate changes we are facing.
      #FeelTheBern
      #TimeForPlanB

    • Seriously you must be smoking something is it green and leafy and has a funky smell. You and Bernie would make a good match then.

  3. Oh, no, it isn’t. This is utter BS. I’ve seen the coast up and down this state, and this report is a lie, it’s rubbish.

    Don’t believe this nonsense. Check for yourselves. It’s disproved easily.

    • Dana Durnford, a highly experienced ex-diver, has travelled up and down the B.C. coast of Canada and has lots of video of the devastation and the 99.9% loss of life in the tide pools…he did check for himself and you can see his findings @ Beautiful Girl by Dana on YouTube or his website The Nuclear Proctologist… or maybe he likes to go out on the ocean in the cold and rain by himself just so he can tell everybody some great big lies…

      • That’s strange, I’m a diver too, all up and down the coast. I’ve not noticed any difference in the last 30 years. And the sardines disappearing? When did the Monterey canneries close? 50+ years ago? Hardly recent

        • The man’s recorded evidence speaks for itself. He concentrates more on the thousands of species of life in the tide pools like filter feeders, kelp, etc., the beginnings of the food chain, that are missing rather than any particular genus of life which, as you point out, could tend to skew his results. He also reports on the lack of pertinent information, misleading information, doctoring of evidence, and overall malfeasance from the establishment, the gov’t and the MSM. I think the quirky name of his website is highly indicative of his sense of humor and also his disgust with the PTB’s handling of the situation or lack thereof …

          • That’s a sad statistic and I agree that man has a lot of culpability in that regard but the current conditions of our energy consumptions and the factors leading up to them needs serious revisions if we are going to survive on this planet. As long as billionaires are allowed to continue to stifle clean, sustainable and renewable energy alternatives and enforce their artificial paradigm of scarcity and want, life on planet Earth is most likely doomed to increasing and enduring hardship for those “not in the club” and the complete and utter destruction of the environment…all in the name of profit…

          • Unfortunately individuals are just as bad. You only need to visit a river or a beach to see the mess people leave

    • And you are an expert right? Who lives in the ocean 24/7 and can therefore make this claim regarding the whole coast at every level and every time. Now that is some BS.

  4. Oh, no, it isn’t. This is utter BS. I’ve seen the coast up and down this state, and this report is a lie, it’s rubbish.

    Don’t believe this nonsense. Check for yourselves. It’s disproved easily.

    • Dana Durnford, a highly experienced ex-diver, has travelled up and down the B.C. coast of Canada and has lots of video of the devastation and the 99.9% loss of life in the tide pools…he did check for himself and you can see his findings @ Beautiful Girl by Dana on YouTube or his website The Nuclear Proctologist… or maybe he likes to go out on the ocean in the cold and rain by himself just so he can tell everybody some great big lies…

    • And you are an expert right? Who lives in the ocean 24/7 and can therefore make this claim regarding the whole coast at every level and every time. Now that is some BS.

    • That’s strange, I’m a diver too, all up and down the coast. I’ve not noticed any difference in the last 30 years. And the sardines disappearing? When did the Monterey canneries close? 50+ years ago? Hardly recent

    • The man’s recorded evidence speaks for itself. He concentrates more on the thousands of species of life in the tide pools like filter feeders, kelp, etc., the beginnings of the food chain, that are missing rather than any particular genus of life which, as you point out, could tend to skew his results. He also reports on the lack of pertinent information, misleading information, doctoring of evidence, and overall malfeasance from the establishment, the gov’t and the MSM. I think the quirky name of his website is highly indicative of his sense of humor and also his disgust with the PTB’s handling of the situation or lack thereof …

    • That’s a sad statistic and I agree that man has a lot of culpability in that regard but the current conditions of our energy consumptions and the factors leading up to them needs serious revisions if we are going to survive on this planet. As long as billionaires are allowed to continue to stifle clean, sustainable and renewable energy alternatives and enforce their artificial paradigm of scarcity and want, life on planet Earth is most likely doomed to increasing and enduring hardship for those “not in the club” and the complete and utter destruction of the environment…all in the name of profit…

    • Unfortunately individuals are just as bad. You only need to visit a river or a beach to see the mess people leave

    • As if it’s Japan’s fault! It was their use of nuclear power + disastrous earthquake and tsunami. It could happen anywhere .. even in the States. If we don’t do something to halt climate change, we will ALL be at fault

      • climate change are you serious? How about doing something we can control, like shutting down nuke plants.

        • Yes .. I agree with you about nuclear power plants. What I was trying to say is that many of the current catastrophic events that have happened around the world are due to our climate being f’kd up. And we can do something about it; we do have control.

          • So is all the changes happening to the other planets in our solar system our fault too ? Maybe they could levy a carbon tax on them…Yeah, Yeah…thats the ticket…

      • Against the will of the people of Fukashima, GE, an American corp set up the power plant there.

    • As if it’s Japan’s fault! It was their use of nuclear power + disastrous earthquake and tsunami. It could happen anywhere .. even in the States. If we don’t do something to halt climate change, we will ALL be at fault

    • climate change are you serious? How about doing something we can control, like shutting down nuke plants.

    • Yes .. I agree with you about nuclear power plants. What I was trying to say is that many of the current catastrophic events that have happened around the world are due to our climate being f’kd up. And we can do something about it; we do have control.

    • So is all the changes happening to the other planets in our solar system our fault too ? Maybe they could levy a carbon tax on them…Yeah, Yeah…thats the ticket…

    • Against the will of the people of Fukashima, GE, an American corp set up the power plant there.

  5. Humanity continues to create bizarre technologies far beyond our ability to harness and control it.

    But we persist in calling our hubris: “Science,” “Progress,” “Intelligence.”

  6. Humanity continues to create bizarre technologies far beyond our ability to harness and control it.

    But we persist in calling our hubris: “Science,” “Progress,” “Intelligence.”

  7. As someone who enjoys the CA beaches from SanDiego to Malibu I can attest that this article is a bunch of BS. 10,000 seals? how bout a few mermaids as well, sea serpents and giant squid maybe. This Greens are really pushing to take Cali back to the Neolithic age.

  8. As someone who enjoys the CA beaches from SanDiego to Malibu I can attest that this article is a bunch of BS. 10,000 seals? how bout a few mermaids as well, sea serpents and giant squid maybe. This Greens are really pushing to take Cali back to the Neolithic age.

  9. They have moved the chem trails out into the ocean and are now called chem bombs which are killing our ocean and preventing the rain.

  10. They have moved the chem trails out into the ocean and are now called chem bombs which are killing our ocean and preventing the rain.

  11. It’s happening on the Gulf coast in Florida too. My parents have a Gulf front house right on the beach for 30 years. Now there is just swamp in front of their beach house

  12. It’s happening on the Gulf coast in Florida too. My parents have a Gulf front house right on the beach for 30 years. Now there is just swamp in front of their beach house

  13. We are overfishing the oceans which affects the whole food chain..time to stop eating meat and go veggy/vegan..

  14. We are overfishing the oceans which affects the whole food chain..time to stop eating meat and go veggy/vegan..

    • That isnt the biggest part of the problem and it definitely is not why all this sealife is dead and washing ashore. Fukushima is. I live on Calif coast and have for most of my 64 yrs.

  15. Stop eating animals and the fish or there will be no turning around this mess we are in…you think it’s bad now,,,,,WAIT…Go VEGAN !!!

  16. Stop eating animals and the fish or there will be no turning around this mess we are in…you think it’s bad now,,,,,WAIT…Go VEGAN !!!

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