The State - News from April 18, 1988

Sea urchins dwelling within 800 feet of a sunken freighter loaded with copper have concentrations of the mineral 100 times higher than those living five miles away, a scientist reported. Stanley V. Margolis, a UC Davis geology professor, said his findings are insufficient to raise concerns about copper contamination of marine life off the California coast after the sinking of the Pac Baroness, which went down off the Central Coast with 23,000 tons of powdered copper last September. The results indicate how a contaminant first becomes absorbed by marine organisms near a shipwreck site, Margolis said, adding that his findings should be taken as a notice that the copper is getting into the food chain. State wildlife officials have said copper ore is toxic, but it is not soluble in seawater and does not pose a serious threat to the coastal marine environment.