Horror Based on Fact??
Notes:
Slide 3. HORROR BASED ON FACT
-Inspired by 1961 episode—seabirds in Monterey Bay
-acting strangely -smashing into things -pecking people
-Similar to 1991 outbreak
MESSAGE: DA OCCURRENCES IN THE PAST
The photo in this slide is a shot from the movie by Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds”, the photo was borrowed from a newsletter published by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. The reason we are showing it is that the story and movie were based on an episode reported in the Monterey Bay Area in 1961. In that incidence, birds were observed to be acting strangely, smashing into objects, attacking and pecking people.
It has been proposed, based on what we now know about the effects of domoic acid poisoning, that this behavior may have been the result of domoic acid affecting parts of the brain in these birds. This suggests that domoic acid poisoning may well have been present here on the west coast long before it was actually identified as the toxin responsible for bird deaths in 1991.
The reason for this suspicion, is that in 1991, we had an outbreak of domoic acid poisoning that affected sea birds in and around Monterey Bay. In this case, sea birds were feeding on anchovies in the bay. When the birds died, examination of their stomach contents indicated they had been feeding on anchovies. Analyses of the stomach contents and anchovies caught in the bay, showed high levels of domoic acid, i.e., up to 2000 ppm in the gut of some anchovies.