Algae toxin causes epilepsy in sea lions

March 2014: California sea lions exposed to a toxin in algae develop a form of epilepsy that is similar to the condition in humans, say scientists.

Every year, hundreds of sea lions wash up along the California coast, suffering seizures caused by exposure to domoic acid, a neurotoxin that can produce memory loss, tremors, convulsions and death.

Domoic acid is produced by algae blooms that have been proliferating along the coast in recent years, accumulating in anchovies and other small fish that the sea lions feed on, said Paul Buckmaster, professor of comparative medicine at Stanford University. The harmful algae blooms is thought to be produced by micronutrients contained in agricultural runoff.

And sea lions are not the only victims, for it’s believed that other marine mammals, such as whales and dolphins, are affected by the toxin and may have seizures and drown in the open ocean, though the extent of the problem isn’t known.

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Turtle washed up on Cornish beach has a scan after epilepsy fears

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Turtle-washed-Cornish-beach-scan-epilepsy-fears/story-12844454-detail/story.html

An epileptic turtle who keeps having fits underwater has been taken for an MRI scan to try to discover if a brain tumour is behind her health problems.

Snorkel, a loggerhead turtle, washed up on a Cornish beach in 1990 and has been living at the National Marine Aquarium (NMA) in Plymouth for more than ten years.

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Local man wants his snake recognized as service animal

New federal guidelines issued March 15 by the U.S. Department of Justice for the Americans with Disabilities Act, recommended service animals be limited to dogs and housebroken miniature horses.

This leaves Daniel Greene, out in the cold. He told KIRO Radio's Dori Monson Show that his service animal, a snake named Red Rock sits under his jacket when he's in public.

Greene uses Red Rock to detect when a seizure might be coming on. "Red Rock is an early warning sensor for my epilepsy," Greene said, adding that the snake also warns him if he has an anxiety attack coming on.

"Red Rock will give me a gentle squeeze around the neck, and that indicates to me that something is wrong." The five-foot long boa constrictor sits on Greene's shoulders, wrapped around his neck, and sits under his jacket when in public. "It's warm for him, it's comfortable for him, he stays there."

Greene said that when Red Rock was still considered a service animal, he wasn't militant about being allowed in all public places, and that if someone didn't want the snake there, "then it's my responsibility
as the owner to keep him away from you."

He knows that's not the case for all owners with service animals, but argued that "a lot of disabled people are considerate," and would remove their animal if the owner of an establishment asked.

Even though the government has ruled against him, Greene said that the fight is not over. "I'm going to keep using him at places that will accept me in their stores."

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