There is no locally caught crab on the menu in California

In California, you won’t see any locally caught crab on the menu as it warned earlier this year that these crustaceans must not be consumed. This is because they could contain high levels of a strong chemical that fills the nervous system with poison.

The chemical could result into death even in people. This toxin is made up of certain algae and there has been large bloom of them off of the state’s coast in 2015.

It is sad that the warning notices can’t be read by sea lions. The toxin builds up in organisms that consume the algae, and some of the creatures can be the lunch of a sea lion. When such a thing happens, these marine mammals could be poisoned. A latest study has now thrown some light over how that poisoning affects the brain of a sea lion.

During algae blooms, California sea lions have been washing up along the Pacific Coast since 1998. During algal blooms. Seizures and signs of confusion have been often shown by them. Both of them are the symptoms of poisoning by the toxin of the algae: domoic (Dah-MO-ik) acid.

Scientists are aware that domoic acid can change the hippocampus of sea lions. This part of the brain is significant to memory. Here, the toxin can lead to seizures, which then harms the brain. Researchers have now proof that this brain damage impairs the spatial memory of animals.