Two more sea lions beached in Newport

A handful of sea lions washed up along the coast over the weekend,

following a trend of disturbing but not unusual beachings, experts said.

Lifeguard officials said this batch of beached mammals included two

sea lion pups who were alive and taken to Friends of the Sea Lion for

treatment.

This is the second beaching in less than a week on the Newport Beach

coast and the most recent in a barrage of similar Orange County

incidents. In the last month, the Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach

has been inundated with critically ill sea lions and dolphins.

Experts said the beachings are caused by a toxic algae bloom that

contain harmful, often lethal biotoxins that attack the creature’s

central nervous system. High levels of the toxin can be found in fish

such as anchovies and sardines -- two common elements of a sea lion’s

diet.