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Marine mammals face food shortages due to El Niño
From Correspondent David George
SAUSALITO, California (CNN) -- Scientists say large numbers of marine animals could find themselves in significant distress in 1998, thanks to food shortages caused by the weather phenomenon known as El Niño.
"El Niño is a change in the prevalent winds and, therefore, a change in the currents that come along the Pacific Coast," says Dr. Martin Hualena of the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California.
"Instead of a nutrient-rich cold water upwelling from around Chile that then spreads along the Pacific Coast, warm water starts to spread along the coast in an El Niño year. So changes start to occur at the very basic levels of the food chain."
Hualena says that as you get to the top the food chain, "it really is just a cataclysmic-type event where basic food is no longer available."
El Niño could mean more work for volunteers at the Marine Mammal Center, the largest such facility in the world that combines animal rehabilitation with on-site research.
Researchers here believe El Niño could prove extremely harmful for young marine mammals.
CNN's David George explains the effects of El Niño on the sea lion population
"We see especially young animals, that are newly separated from parents, who are supposed to be out starting to forage, who may not be quite adept at it," says Hualena. "Those animals, then, are at particular risk because they just cannot get to the food that they need."
At the mammal center, badly distressed animals -- those too sick to eat by themselves -- are put on a diet of "fish milkshakes" to build up their strength.
Though El Niño has arrived in the waters of the Pacific, it may be later next year before sea creatures begin to feel its full impact.
"The El Niño, because it affects all the way up the food chain, is a year-long event. It just affects different members of the food chain at different parts of the year," says Hualena.
"So when waters start to warm in perhaps the springtime, we probably don't see effects in our marine mammals until probably the early fall and September, October," he said.
Those who are sick or stranded at the Sausalito center generally stay about 12 weeks. Each is released with a new lease on life -- and becomes a symbol of its rescuers' hopes for the future.
Special Section:
Related stories:
- El Niño brings tropical fish to Pacific coast - September 9, 1997
- El Niño ushers in a breath of fresh air - September 9, 1997
Related sites:
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- The Marine Mammal Center
- NOAA/PMEL/TAO El Nino Theme Page
- Bibliography on El Niño / El Nino and Flooding
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