Looks like the Bush environmental plan has been initiated
O.C.'s Mystery of the Deep: Invasion of the Jumbo Squid
About 1,500 of the natives of South America wash up, leaving experts puzzled.
By David Reyes
Times Staff Writer
January 20, 2005More than 1,500 jumbo squid — common to South America — have washed onto Orange County beaches over the last few days, leaving marine experts perplexed as to why so many of these torpedo-shaped mollusks have traveled so far north.
"We've known that there's something peculiar going on with those species," said John McGowan, professor emeritus at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla and one of the leading oceanographers on the West Coast.
Mysterious Oil Patches Take Big Toll on Seabirds
Up to 5,000 avians have been harmed, the most in the state since a spill off the coast in 1990.
By Amanda Covarrubias and Kenneth R. Weiss
Times Staff Writers
January 21, 2005A mysterious weeklong oil leak off Southern California has damaged more wildlife than any spill in state coastal waters since 1990, officials said Thursday as they struggled to find its source.
Dead or oiled seabirds are now turning up on beaches from Santa Barbara to Huntington Beach, with estimates that as many as 5,000 birds may have been coated with the black goo. So far, nearly 1,400 birds have been retrieved since the first grebes washed ashore in Ventura County a week ago.
What makes the situation so perplexing is that wildlife officials are overrun by birds, but have not found a major telltale slick on the water or tar balls washing ashore.
"It's a tough nut to crack," said Dana Michaels, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish and Game. "It's not like there's a big slick someplace and we can say, 'That's the responsible party.' This is a real mystery."
Not knowing where the leak is coming from makes it impossible for experts to determine how much oil is out there and for people treating the injured wildlife to know whether the worst is over.
