Sea lion mortalities in central California during May and June 1998 were traced to their ingestion of sardines and anchovies that had accumulated the neurotoxin domoic acid. The detection of toxin in urine, feces, and stomach contents of several sea lions represents the first proven occurrence of domoic acid transfer through the food chain to a marine mammal. The pennate diatoms, Pseudo-nitzschia multiseries and P. australis, were the dominant, toxinproducing phytoplankton constituting algal blooms near Monterey Bay, Half Moon Bay, and Oceano Dunes, areas where sea lions with neurological symptoms stranded. Toxic Pseudo-nitzschia were also found near Morro Bay, Point Conception, Point Arguello, and Santa Barbara, demonstrating that these species were widespread along the central California coast in June 1998. Measurements of domoic acid during three cruises in early June showed the highest cellular toxin levels in P. multiseries near Point Año Nuevo at 6 pg cell Ϫ1 and in P. australis from Morro Bay at 78 pg cell Ϫ1 . Maximum cellular domoic acid levels were observed within 20 km of the coast between 0 and 5 m depth, although toxin was also measured to depths of 40 m. Hydrographic data indicated that the highest toxin levels and greatest numbers of toxic cells were positioned in water masses associated with upwelling zones near coastal headlands. Nutrient levels at these sites were less than those typically measured during periods of active upwelling, due to the 1998 El Niño event. The flow of cells and/or nutrients from coastal headlands into embayments where cells can multiply in a stratified environment is a possible mechanism of bloom development along the central California coast. This coupling of toxic Pseudo-nitzschia growth near upwelling zones with physical processes involved in cell transport will be understood only when long-term measurements are made at several key coastal locations, aiding in our capability to predict domoic-acid producing algal blooms.In May and June 1998, at least 70 California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) and one northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) were found stranded along the central California coast. This stranding event occurred between 15 May 1 Corresponding author (Vera.L.Trainer@noaa.gov). AcknowledgmentsWe thank the captain and the crew of the RV Ballena, RV Shana Rae, and PB Bluefin for their help during these cruises, at times under strenuous conditions. We acknowledge the following people for their help in providing useful information that directed the locations of the cruises:

Several Seattle-area streams in Puget Sound were the focus of habitat restoration projects in the 1990s. Post-project effectiveness monitoring surveys revealed anomalous behaviors among adult coho salmon returning to spawn in restored reaches. These included erratic surface swimming, gaping, fin splaying, and loss of orientation and equilibrium. Affected fish died within hours, and female carcasses generally showed high rates (>90%) of egg retention. Beginning in the fall of 2002, systematic spawner surveys were conducted to 1) assess the severity of the adult die-offs, 2) compare spawner mortality in urban vs. non-urban streams, and 3) identify water quality and spawner condition factors that might be associated with the recurrent fish kills. The forensic investigation focused on conventional water quality parameters (e.g., dissolved oxygen, temperature, ammonia), fish condition, pathogen exposure and disease status, and exposures to metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and current use pesticides. Daily surveys of a representative urban stream (Longfellow Creek) from 2002–2009 revealed premature spawner mortality rates that ranged from 60–100% of each fall run. The comparable rate in a non-urban stream was <1% (Fortson Creek, surveyed in 2002). Conventional water quality, pesticide exposure, disease, and spawner condition showed no relationship to the syndrome. Coho salmon did show evidence of exposure to metals and petroleum hydrocarbons, both of which commonly originate from motor vehicles in urban landscapes. The weight of evidence suggests that freshwater-transitional coho are particularly vulnerable to an as-yet unidentified toxic contaminant (or contaminant mixture) in urban runoff. Stormwater may therefore place important constraints on efforts to conserve and recover coho populations in urban and urbanizing watersheds throughout the western United States.

Dissolved copper is an increasingly common non-point source contaminant in urban and urbanizing watersheds. In the present study, we investigated the sublethal effects of dissolved copper on the peripheral mechanosensory system, or lateral line, of larval zebrafish (Danio rerio). Zebrafish larvae were exposed to copper (0-65 microg/L), and the cytotoxic responses of individual lateral line receptor neurons were examined using a combination of in vivo fluorescence imaging, confocal microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and conventional histology. Dissolved copper triggered a dose-dependent loss of neurons in identified lateral line neuromasts at concentrations > or = 20 microg/L. The onset of cell death in the larval mechanosensory system was rapid (< 1 h). When copper-exposed zebrafish were transferred to clean water, the lateral line regenerated over the course of 2 d. In contrast, the lateral line of larvae exposed continuously to dissolved copper (50 microg/L) for 3 d did not recover. Collectively, these results show that peripheral mechanosensory neurons are vulnerable to the neurotoxic effects of copper. Consequently, dissolved copper in non-point source storm-water runoff has the potential to interfere with rheotaxis, schooling, predator avoidance, and other mechanosensory-mediated behaviors that are important for the migration and survival of fish.