Sea lions are losing their minds What's happening on California beaches?

The Marine Mammal Center, a veterinary hospital located in the San Francisco Bay Area of ​​California, USA, has issued an urgent warning to the public to stay away from poisonous and agitated sea lions that are being washed ashore.

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Dozens of sea lions were seen during the last week of August suffering from convulsions, tremors, strange movements, and appearing lethargic or confused, as they were swept by waves to the shores of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Experts revealed that these animals suffer from a type of brain damage caused by a neurotoxin called "domoic acid," the same toxin that caused strange behaviors and attacks on humans last year.

These toxins spread in parts of the ocean during algal blooms, causing pollution of fish that sea lions feed on, such as sardines and anchovies, and this affects parts of the brain responsible for memory and behavior.

Experts have been unable to explain why the number of sick sea lion strandings has risen so dramatically in late summer, with more than 100 sick sea lions having washed up on U.S. beaches so far in 2026, compared with only 70 to 90 cases on an annual average.

The Marine Mammal Center, a veterinary hospital located in the San Francisco Bay Area, urged the public to stay at least 150 feet away from any sea lions that appear on the beach.

Outbreaks of the disease-causing toxin had begun to appear earlier in the summer, but the spokesman for the Marine Mammal Center, Giancarlo Rolli, said that cases began to increase strangely as the season drew to a close.

One of the possible causes of the illnesses and deaths that occurred late in the season was the emergence of the record-breaking El Niño phenomenon, which meteorologists confirmed was raising the surface temperature of the Pacific Ocean to levels unprecedented in recorded history.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has stated that strong winds off the coast of California push surface water aside, drawing in cold, nutrient-rich water from the ocean depths in a process known as "updrafts."

These nutrients help the algae grow quickly under the sun, and this year's warm El Niño waters help certain types of algae, including an organism called Pseudotitchea, to multiply rapidly, releasing the toxin domoic acid.