An Investigation of the Impacts of El Nio and Global Climate Change

on the California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus)

ABSTRACT
In a continually changing global climate all species of life on Earth are constantly
bombarded with shifts in their immediate ecosystem, shifts that affect their own species directly
and indirectly through the other organisms that play a role in their ecosystem. Some climate
changes, such as El Nio, are recurring, with periods of irregularity and subsequent return to
typical weather conditions. Other climate phenomenon, namely global climate change, are ongoing and largely influenced by human intervention. Zalophus californianus, commonly known
as the California sea lion, is one such species of mammals that undergoes such severe shifts due
to these impacts. Although it is a marine animal that inhabits a broad range of water temperatures
near and far from the equator, the California sea lion is still just as susceptible to ecological
changes caused by global climate phenomenon. Warmer temperatures and shifts in upwelling
patterns caused by both the El Nio Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and global climate change
affect the population ecology of California sea lions. Mortality rates via starvation and stranding
have increased, while reproductive birth rates have decreased. Moreover, records indicate
increased risk to marine mammal health due to harmful algal blooms and bacterial and fungal
diseases that are linked to global climate changes. These effects on sea lions and their interacting
organisms seem to have lasting impacts that are shifting their ecosystems to unprecedented
levels. The evolving complexity of this problem, along with the uncertainty regarding how these
animals might respond, pose a serious threat to global ecology within the foreseeable future.

INTRODUCTION
The California sea lion, scientifically named Zalophus californianus, is the most
abundant pinniped species found along the coast of North America. Its habitat of pelagic waters
ranges from coastal British Columbia to the Gulf of California in Mexico (Schramm et al., 2009).
Their habitation near islands is due to the birthing and nursing of pups on land; pups are born
unable to swim and forage at sea. However, when mature and able to do so, they mostly reside in
the euphotic zone, diving no deeper than 300 meters in search of prey. Their diet consists of fish,
mainly anchovies and sardines, as well as cephalopods, such as squids and octopi (Orr et al.,
2012). Their ecological niche includes helping to maintain fish and cephalopod population size.
They themselves are preyed upon by larger tertiary consumers, such as killer whales and large
sharks, which are the top-level marine predators. Humans could also be considered a predator of
these pinnipeds. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, sea lions were hunted for sport and
extensively killed for commercial purposes, their blubber used for oil and their hides used for
clothing. The species was later protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, enacted in the
United States in 1972, and their numbers have since stabilized (Kuhn and Costa, 2014).
However, because their prey are commercially fished, this has led to interactions between sea
lions and fisheries, resulting in increased mortality of sea lions by entanglement in fishing nets
and collision with boats. Similarly, there is record of sea lion entanglement in man-made debris,
also involving incidences of pollution, such as oil spills. Sea lion fatality due to human activity is
inevitable due to overlapping environments and unintended interactions. Nonetheless, these are
considered negligible compared to the impacts caused by the more natural weather phenomenon
currently taking place, namely El Nio and global climate change.

ANALYSIS OF EL NINO IMPACTS

During the El Nio phase of a positive ENSO, trade winds cause warm water to be blown
into the eastern waters of the Pacific Ocean and reduce upwelling. The California sea lion is
primarily affected by El Nio conditions by the extent to which this type of climate and
temperature change affect its prey. The sea lion is a secondary consumer, or higher tertiary
consumer depending on the type of prey it eats, and its diet consists of Pacific fish and
cephalopods. As warmer water temperatures pervade through the aquatic environment during an
El Nio, its ectothermic prey have typically been found to move its habitat into the cooler
northern waters. An example of this is the Pacific sardine, Sardinops sagax caeruleus, that either
die off due to its physiological inability to survive in warmer temperatures or have its eggs
dispersed into northern waters where the water temperature is much cooler and the newborns
have a much better chance for survival (Hammann et al., 1988). Numerous species of primary
producers and primary consumers, thus, are unable to survive in the warmer water temperatures
and without the nutrients that usually comes from upwelling. This eliminates many members of
the food web and reduces the ecosystems carrying capacity, namely that of the California
Current System. As a result of this, the California sea lions go through feeding and behavioral
adaptations to compensate for the lack of prey. Adult sea lions have been observed to forage for
longer periods of time, farther from their pelagic dwellings; to dive into deeper cooler waters;
and to forage at night, rather than during the warmer daytime, during El Nio years.
Conversely, harsh weather conditions and more competition among animals in the same
fundamental niche, such as the common dolphin, make these foraging adaptations insufficient for
adult sea lions to successfully catch prey, which activates a series of events that negatively
influence their population size. First of all, if adult sea lions are unable to catch prey, many of

them die off as a result of starvation. Secondly, among the sea lions that do survive, malnutrition
amidst the adult females is detrimental to reproduction. Malnourishment in lactating female sea
lions causes reproductive failures and lowers their viability to produce fertile offspring (Melin,
2012). A decline of sea lion pup births of 44% was observed in the El Nio of 1998; a 27% and
41% decrease in pup births was observed in the following El Nio years of 2003 and 2010,
respectively. In addition to lower birth rate, higher pup mortality as a result of malnourishment
and decreased prey availability also contributes to the reduction in sea lion population size in El
Nio years. The highest rates of pup mortality after 14 weeks were observed in 1998 at 50% and
in 2009 at 80%, both years with El Nio climate conditions. The higher rates of pup deaths
during these years are believed to have been caused by the failure of mother sea lions to lactate
milk with the proper nutrients for these pups to grow (Oftedal, 1987). Thus, lack of prey leads to
malnourishment in adult sea lions, which both stunts the birth rate and heightens the mortality
rate of pups, leading to a downward population shift of California sea lions during the El Nio
years.
In addition to population decrease, there is another unique effect of positive ENSO
climate conditions that impacts the California sea lions. While this species normally inhabits the
pelagic Pacific waters, they will migrate to the coastal islands of southern California, western
Baja California, and the Gulf of California in Mexico when it is time to produce and nurse
offspring. Typically from the warmer months of May to August, adult sea lions form breeding
colonies, known as rookeries, on these islands and stay in their territory for nearly a year-long
gestation period (Heath and Perrin, 2008). Soon after giving birth, mothers will stay with their
pups in the rookery for a week until it comes time for them to start foraging for food again. They
then alternate cycles, feeding at sea for a couple days, usually within a hundred kilometers of the

rookery, and nursing their pup on shore for a couple of days. As a result of El Nio conditions,
adult sea lions are either unable to forage sufficient prey and do not survive or the lack of
nourishment within the sea lion mothers leads to malnourished or underdeveloped sea lion pups.
Both of these events bring about the subsequent stranding of sea lions on the islands; the pups
are too young to have been completely weaned off from nursing and too weak to forage and hunt
properly for themselves. The highest rates on record of California sea lion strandings, especially
among young pups, on the Channel Islands were observed in years of El Nio (Greig, 2005).
The increased stranding of sea lions during these years not only increases their population risk,
but it also moves them outside of their usual realized niche for periods at a time. Sea lion pups
who try their luck with foraging at sea end up even more weakened on a different set of coastal
shores separate from the islands on which they were originally nursed. If the mother was to make
it back on-shore, the pup would be nowhere to be found, stranded and abandoned in a completely
different location.
ANALYSIS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS
Changes in population indices of California sea lions indicate extreme change in the
marine environment during El Nio years. These extreme changes disrupt prey dynamics, thus
affecting further up the food chain and leading to notable declines in sea lion populations.
However, similar data of decreased reproduction and increased mortality appear, even in non-El
Nio years. In 2004 and 2005, the number of California sea lion pup births was lower than
average due to localized strong negative upwelling that was not associated with El Nio
conditions or regional oceanographic anomalies (Goericke et al, 2005). This could be attributed
to global climate change, as one of its climatological effects is characterized by weakening of
open ocean upwelling. The equatorial upwelling bands weaken as winds diminish, due to the

temperature gradient under global warming conditions (Hsieh and Boer, 2007). With a
weakening ocean upwelling and absence of coastal upwelling, this would give rise to conditions
very similar to those as described for El Nio years. Recent data of decreased sea lion
reproduction rate during non-El Nio years supports this parallel between El Nio and global
climate change.
Moreover, water temperatures are notably warmer in El Nio and non- El Nio years,
alike. Sea surface temperature has been on the rise in the last hundred years, and global average
surface water temperature is continually above the long-term average, also evidenced among Sea
Surface Temperature (SST) Anomaly Charts (Roessig et al., 2004). Most of this human-caused
warming goes into the oceans, while only a small percentage goes into the atmosphere. As this
pushes fish and cephalopods further north and deeper in the water, pups are left alone for longer
periods of time while their mothers are forced to travel further and dive deeper in search of food.
However, not only does unusually warm waters affect prey, but also, the increased ocean acidity
from increased carbon dioxide concentrations are creating harsh environments for aquatic
organisms. Fish are sensitive to pH, and as such, ocean acidification is creating decreased
functionality among fish species, meaning decreased reproduction and higher mortality among
fish species as well. Ocean surface pH has already decreased by 0.1 pH units in colder waters
and almost 0.09 pH units in warmer waters (Haugen, 1997). This does not bode well for marine
ecosystems, given that fish play a key role in the food web and is the primary prey of California
sea lions. Global warming and increasing acidity in the ocean pose a potential threat to sea lions
underlying food webs. Shall these extremes intensify, as has already been the current trend, this
foreshadows entire ecosystem collapse.

Weather patterns have an element of randomness, but it is clear that we have been
experiencing more extreme storms, or lack thereof with the recent drought. Climate change
affects rainfall patterns, leading to alternating periods of drought and intense storms. This can
cause more nutrient runoff into waterbodies, feeding a phenomenon known as harmful algal
blooms (Gilbert et al., 2005). Some harmful algal blooms are not algae at all, but rather, they
consist of small protists that can produce toxins, endangering fish species and their consumers.
Harmful algal blooms are increasing worldwide and appear to be becoming more frequent along
the California coast. Although the exact reasoning for this is unclear, a likely explanation is the
eutrophication of marine waters and global climate change (Rabalais et al., 2009). The droughts
are thought to allow nutrients and pollutants to stockpile on land, and once these heavy storms
hit, the excessive addition of nutrients into marine ecosystems promotes growth of these harmful
blooms. These blooms get concentrated in small fish species eaten by sea lions, increasing risk to
marine mammal health. Specifically, diatom species of the genus Pseudo-nitzchia produce
domoic acid, a water-soluble neurotoxin that causes domoic acid toxicosis and syndromes
characterized by epilepsy (Goldstein et al., 2008). The epidemiology of domoic acid toxicosis
has been linked to exposure to the blooms and contaminated prey. Along with the California sea
lions, domoic acid was detected in anchovies, sardines, and phytoplankton. These toxic
poisoning incidences, although considered sporadic for now, are predicted to increase with the
rapidly changing environmental conditions. This prey source of fish is shared among many other
fish consumers, even human beings, and analyzing the potential effects of the toxins in seafood
offers insight on its potential effects upon other animal groups and on human health as well.
The catastrophic effects of global climate change do not stop here. In addition to domoic
acid toxicosis, increased outbreaks of bacterial and fungal diseases have also been evidenced

among California sea lions. Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection that affects the kidneys and
causes them to stop functioning properly. It is a geographically widespread disease that affects a
broad range of mammals, including marine mammals (Cameron et al., 2008). Among pinniped
populations, leptospirosis is responsible for significant die-offs but can also cause reproductive
failure in female sea lions. As the prevalence of leptospirosis was tested for in 2000, increased
mortality of sea lions were suggestive of crowding in rookeries and the presence of bats and
rodents sharing the same islands (Acevedo-Whitehouse et al., 2003). This is indicative of one of
the effects of global climate change, because loss of habitat due to rising sea levels are
decreasing island space, forcing these marine mammals to reside in close proximity to other
animal organisms. It is unknown where sea lions first contracted Leptospira interrogans bacteria,
but the disease can be contracted by contact with contaminated urine, water, or soil. It is possible
that sea lions could have contracted the disease from shore, but it is also possible that sea lions
can equally transmit the bacteria to other land species, such as dogs and humans. Another set of
pathogens that have been detected among sea lions is that of systemic mycoses, fungal diseases
that are known to usually reside in the soil. It is theorized that systemic mycoses were introduced
to stranded North American mammals by humans (Huckabone et al., 2015). However, these
transmittance rates are heightened by decreased health among sea lions. They are more
susceptible to disease because of malnutrition, and global climate change is not providing the
proper nutrition and space that they need to maintain their fundamental niche. As these diseases
are able to be transmitted among mammals, animals on land and humans, too, are at risk of
contracting these illnesses. We, too, may be indirectly affected by global climate change in
similar ways, and we may be too slow to fully realize it.

COMPARISON
El Nio and global climate change affect California sea lions in similar fashion, namely
the effects of warmer water temperatures and decreased upwelling. Warmer water temperatures
relocate fish and cephalopod prey to the cooler northern waters, and diminished upwelling causes
decreased amounts of nutrients that create a more uninhabitable environment for these fish
species. As prey populations are reduced, sea lion mothers are forced to forage further for food,
risking malnourishment from the extra energy expenditure and lack of food, also increasing
strandings of their pups from the inability to return to nurse their offspring. Global climate
change, however, is characterized by other extreme occurrences, such as strong storms
interchanged with periods of drought. This can lead to eutrophication of marine waters, thus
resulting in harmful algal blooms. Although heavier rainfall during El Nio years also leads to
eutrophication and the growth of these blooms, the fact that their occurrence happens annually
and in non-El Nio years is indicative of their intensification due to global climate change, rather
than El Nio. These unprecedented conditions of global climate change also create harsher
environments in which sea lions must struggle to survive. They are at increased health risk, due
to decreased breeding space by rising sea levels, forcing interactions with other mammals and
promoting the transmission of illnesses. The harsher environments have also weakened their
immune systems, as shortage of food supply has made them more susceptible to death and
disease. The role that California sea lions play in the community can help facilitate
understanding of ecosystem functioning, as their roles can be equivocated to other marine
mammals, including humans. They are impacted by prey dynamics, and they themselves are prey
to other predatory consumers. Moreover, they demonstrate the extent to which conditions may
worsen under future climate scenarios. As all aspects of the interplay between El Nio and global

climate change have not been fully identified, further research will need to be performed to better
understand how we can help mitigate their consequences.

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