Hundreds of dead anchovies floating in Monterey Harbor

A minor anchovy die-off in the Monterey Bay Thursday has harbor officials scratching their heads. The cause is still unknown but they suspect above average warm waters and unusual ocean conditions this year may be to blame.

“I noticed them out here. And I looked over here and seen all kinds of dead little fish over there,” said fisherman Tucker Bergerson.

Bergerson fishes in the Monterey Bay every day. He like others who make a living out in the open waters, know something isn’t right in the bay.

“There have been fish dying, there have been a bunch of birds dead in the water as well. Some of the marine mammals like the sea lions, seals and the otters, they’ll have seizures and they will be delirious like dementia,” said tour guide Kamyar Shareghi.

That was the case earlier this week when a young whale got stuck on some rocks in Monterey Bay. Marine scientists now think it may have been suffering from domoic acid poisoning. The acid is produced by algae.

“The water is definitely a little more green than we usually notice; almost like a hazel color actually,” said Shareghi.

Marine experts said the algae accumulates in shellfish, sardines and anchovies and is then eaten by mammals.

The water temperature along the coast has risen two to five degrees in the last few months. Marine experts said warm water contains less oxygen so the harbor has turned on its aerator system to pump more oxygen into the bay in hopes of preventing another anchovy die-off.