BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS 2 sea lions...

BRIEFLY IN

THE NEWS

2 sea lions in serious condition

Two sea lions that swam ashore near 51st Street Tuesday morning

are in serious condition, said a veterinarian at the Friends of the

Sea Lion Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach.

The sea lions are victims of a toxic algae bloom containing

harmful, often lethal, biotoxins that attack the creatures’ central

nervous system, said Richard Evans, the center’s medical director.

The center was deluged with dolphins and sea lions affected by the

same problem the same time last year, he said.

Evans said the sea lions that washed up in Newport are in “bad

shape.”

“The survival rate in such conditions are less than 5%,” he said.

“The toxin destroys their brain.”

Men steal motorcycle at gunpoint

Costa Mesa Police officers are looking for two men who reportedly

stole a motorcycle from a 32-year-old Huntington Beach man at

gunpoint Monday afternoon, officials said.

The man was riding his motorcycle near Bear Street and Yukon

Avenue at about 1 p.m., said Lt. Dale Birney. The man had put a “for

sale” sign on his vehicle, he said.

Two men in a white car approached the victim when he was stopped

at a traffic light asking if they could look at his motorcycle,

Birney said.

“When he pulled over, one of the men displayed a handgun and asked

[the victim] to hand over the motorcycle,” he said.

The man then took the motorcycle and the helmet from the victim

and rode east on Paularino Avenue with the other man in the car

driving south on Bear, Birney said.

No one was hurt in the incident, he said.

Sailboat destroyed after crashing

A sailboat returning from Ensenada after participating in the

Newport to Ensenada yacht race crashed near Crystal Cove, about four

miles off the Newport Harbor entrance, Monday morning after its

operator set it on automatic pilot and fell asleep, officials said.

A Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol fireboat and Crystal Cove State Beach

lifeguards responded to the incident that happened at about 6:35 a.m.

Monday, said Harbor Patrol Sgt. Karl Von Voigt.

The boat was completely destroyed, he said. No one was hurt in the

incident.