An invasion of anchovies has prompted Monterey’s harbor master to activate more than a dozen air pumps to add oxygen to the water, to prevent their mass suffocation.
Hundreds of sea lions and pelicans are crowding the city’s waterfront, drawn by the schools of migrating Northern anchovies, city officials said in a weekly email on Friday.
“For the past couple of weeks, the Harbormaster’s Office team has activated aerators in 13 locations within the harbor to help increase oxygen levels to protect the mass of anchovies,” the city said. “While this helps, we are still seeing (and smelling) some anchovy die-off.”
The anchovies are migratory, and travel partially based on water temperature, according to the city.
“This is a natural phenomenon but doesn’t happen every year,” the city said. “We expect the smelly situation to resolve soon.”
San Carlos Beach on Cannery Row was closed for seven weeks starting in August by an influx of sea lions on their annual migration from the Channel Islands, city officials said on social media.
The sea lions subsequently moved to Monterey’s Sister City Park, where authorities set up barricades to protect the animals and humans from each other.
In mid-October, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began an investigation when a viral video showed a man whipping around a yellow caution tape, causing the animals to stampede down a 20-foot cliff into the water, according to the city.
Marine mammals, including sea lions, are protected under federal law.
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