New report looks at human induced injuries on marine life

A new study looked at the negative interaction between humans and marine mammals.

Researchers with the Marine Mammal Center spent 12 years studying thousands of animals.

Researchers looked at more than 11,000 stranded animals that received care at the Marine Mammal Center between 2003 and 2015. 617 actually showed signs of human-induced injuries. While it may seem like a small number many of those happened in Monterey County waters.

“There are more and more animals recovering species so we have more. We have more and more people so we’re going to have more and more interactions,” said Baynet volunteer, Thom Akeman.

Akeman has been monitoring Monterey Peninsula’s coast for years as a docent for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

He said he wasn’t surprised about the number of human-induced injuries to marine life. Just this week, a harbor seal was spotted with a hook in its mouth something he said isn’t uncommon.

“The main concern was if the fishing line was long enough to get entangled in its flippers then it would prevent it from swimming and if it can’t swim it can’t eat,” said Akeman.

According to new data from the Marine Mammal Center 617 marine mammals were treated for human induced injuries over a 12 year period. Those injuries run a wide range from intentional gunshot wounds to discarded fishing gear left behind.

The report found 123 debris cases came out of Monterey County where animals got caught in netting, fishing line, plastic bags, and ropes.

All along the U.S. Coast Guard pier, you see receptacles reminding fishermen to put dispose of their lines, so it doesn’t end up in the ocean.

“I caught a nice, someone’s long line, probaby about 20-30′ feet of line with big hooks on it, weight and everything here,” said Fisherman Nicholas Jacuzzi.

Jacuzzi spent Thursday fishing for rockfish in Monterey. He said he feels connected to the water, and hates seeing it wasted so he picks up after others.

“I mean I see a lot of people that leave trash, they leave a lot of disposable gloves, not clean up after themselves. They buy new gear, open it up on the pier and just leave it, walk away,” said Jacuzzi.

Monterey County also came in with the highest number of gunshot cases at 43.

“It’s rare, but I always say, if you have one rotten apple in every barrel, we have so many barrels today that there are just that many more rotten apples,” said Akeman.

The report said Santa Cruz County had the most cases of animals injured by fishing tackle, including certain types of hooks and crab pots. Marin County reportedly had the most boat collisions.

So far this year, the Marine Mammal Center responded to 59 cases of negative human interaction, many of those interactions involved California sea lions.