water. anything the shark could be able to see in the water and mistake for fish scales. overall the word out here is use common sense. use your best judgment when getting in the water but officials not closing any of the beaches in north carolina. sarah reporting for us there at oak, island north carolina. dr. reese halter is a conservation biologist and joins us to talk about this. so are we seeing something more than just consequence or that s all it is? it s just a consequence. a string of activity off the carolina coastline. well early happy fourth. this is what we know. the climate crisis is weighing very heavily in this situation. first of all, the oceans are warmer than they normally are. second of all, we have a nasty drought in the carolinas which is impinging upon the creeks of fresh water from running into the atlantic. it s saltier. that s attracting the bait fish and the sharks that follow the bait fish are coming in.
picture, it s showing us that clearly something isn t right. if it isn t the food which i believe it is it s also a combination, thomas of the oceans are warming, when currents change warm or cold currents change and the food supply with them moves, and you have to understand that sharks are amazing scavengers and they re always on the move looking for a snack. and so, this is another indicator that the climate crisis is very real and ripe for dealing with now. doctor a conservation biologist, thank you so much. just joining us the breaking news is a 68-year-old man bitten by a shark in about waist-deep water 30 feet from shore. ocracoke island north carolina. california kids attending day care and public school will have to be vaccinated.
the substance came from and if it has any connection at all to last week s oil spill in santa barbara. joining me now, conservation biologist reese halter. good to see you. good morning. what s the likelihood that these goo tar balls are connected to santa barbara. not likely. it takes at least 30 days jose for the oil to turn into tar. this much we do know about this tar. first of all, 30 cubic yards or 11 pickup trucks and counting of toxicity. this toxicity carries potentially the vibrio bacteria that gives, if you re cut and get it on you, you can suffer from ceptasemia. this toxicity carries with it the flesh eating disease. so this is another example of what s going on in our oceans.
a mess. this stuff goes down the beach. joining me now award winning conservation biologist. 105,000 gallons. how do you clean that up and how long will it take? could take quite a while. you have to realize these are highly cancerous. the air is toxic. and the sea creatures are in grave danger. there are a couple of dozens of species that are threatened. it s bad. pelicans have been doused in oil. sea lions, octopus on shore are covered in oil. of course we have our migrating endangered blue whales, hump back whales the doctors of the sea also at risk here. so talk to me about this oil. does it stay floating on the
but beyond brown grass and short showers, the drought is having a devastating affect on the most basic system of all the food chain. in northern california salmon eggs have all but disappeared thanks to the lack of water. the kangaroo rat has nearly died off. and drier conditions have forced land animals to seek food in urban gardens. ahead of the busy summer season the state wildlife agency in lake tahoe is preparing itself for a barrage of bear sightings. joining me now is conservation biologist reece halter and associate professor at u.k. berkeley justin. justin, let me start with you. in terms of the kangaroo rat, right, you hear that and people immediately think, oh who cares about what is happening to the kangaroo rat. the numbers of the kangaroo rat have been dpe pleated, i think, 95% have died out since 2010. why does that matter? yeah. that s a good point and you re right. a lot of folks say it s a rat.