The world's oceans are in trouble. Warming seas and man-made pollutants are combining to unleash toxic algae blooms that are decimating whales, sea lions, and other marine mammals. In a high-action film, NOVA explores this crisis through the exploits of Dr. Frances Gulland, a San Francisco veterinarian who runs the equivalent of a West Coast ER for marine mammals. On a typical day, listless sea lions flop on their sides, too exhausted to lift their heads. Others are agitated. Another chews obsessively on a flipper. They are all victims of a marine neurotoxin made by an organism that feeds on algae. Dr. Gulland is committed to saving these sick animals one at a time, but she is also desperately trying to figure out what's killing them.

Tuesday, 11/25/08 from 8-9 p.m. ET
Friday, 11/28/08 from 4:30-5:30 a.m. ET