Press Release

January 13, 2000

Recent scientific investigations have resulted in a number of unexpected findings that will assist in correcting public misperceptions about the Salton Sea and in restoring the health of California’s largest inland body of water.

“An exciting array of information has been provided that replaces myth and innuendo with factual information about the current state of the Salton Sea,” said Dr. Milton Friend, executive director of the Salton Sea Science Subcommittee.

The combination of these investigations provides the most comprehensive evaluation of the Salton Sea to date, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Interior.

“The value of these investigations became evident as many of the findings differed from commonly held perceptions and existing conventional wisdom about the sea,” the report states.

Through these studies, the Science Subcommittee has injected a wealth of new scientifically based information into the project evaluation process, replacing conjecture and data gaps that previously existed for a number of important issues, according to the report.

The investigations resulted in a variety of findings relevant to restoration, many of them unexpected.

Some key findings include:

• The Salton Sea is alive and vibrant in terms of biological complexity rather than nearly dead — more than 200 species (mostly microscopic) not previously known to exist at the Sea have been identified. A number of these are new to science.

• Fish populations, thought to be very depressed, are actually abundant; in fact, the sea may be the most productive fishery in the world.  

• Pesticides, presumed to be a major problem within the Sea, are not; most pesticide levels in the sediments and waters of the Sea were found to be below detectable levels of the analytical methods used.

• Though algal toxins have long been thought to be a major cause of fish and bird mortality at the Sea, investigations failed to reveal any evidence of algal toxins killing either fish or birds.

Contrary to perceptions and claims that the Sea is highly contaminated with bacteria and other microorganisms capable of causing human disease, findings have been primarily restricted to bacteria of the genera Aeromonas and Vibrio. These bacteria are primarily opportunistic invaders rather than agents that cause primary infections and genetically are of low human health concern.

“The research clearly demonstrates we have learned a great deal about the Salton Sea that was previously unknown,” said Friend. He added more research is needed to build upon the groundbreaking investigations reported during the Salton Sea Symposium.

He has called for creation of a dedicated Salton Sea Science Office as part of the Strategic Science Plan for the Sea.

“That office would provide the link between scientists and restoration project managers, but would not carry out scientific investigations,” he said. Its basic roles would be science planning, coordination, evaluation, contract awards and administration.

“The scientific and management challenges that lie ahead are formidable. However, failure is not an option,” said Friend.

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