neurotoxin

Beginning in February, hundreds of dolphins and sea lions started washing up on California beaches, either dead or suffering neurotoxin poisoning symptoms such as aggression, lethargy and seizures.

Mercury is a neurotoxin and can cause serious health issues such as tremors, insomnia, emotional changes, headaches, decreased mental function, kidney effects, respiratory failure and death, depending on the amount and form of exposure.

Elapids primarily use neurotoxins in their venom, which paralyses their victim and is fatal when it stops the muscles needed to breathe.

Also known as quicksilver, mercury is a neurotoxin that can affect the nervous system and kidneys, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The bloom currently wreaking havoc off the coast produces a neurotoxin called domoic acid, which accumulates in small fish like sardines and anchovies.