researchers have discovered male fish with ovary tissue and eggs in place of testes off the southern california coast.   previously reported in freshwater fish exposed to treated wastewater, this is the first instance of such abnormalities in saltwater species. 

estrogen is generally considered to be the cause of this fishy feminizing--at least in freshwater species. Link  while heavy metals, harmful bacteria and solids are removed at treatment plants, estrogen--which occurs at higher than natural levels in sewage at present as a result of widespread use of  birth control  and hormone replacement therapy medications--is difficult and costly to reclaim.  

all of the affected ocean fish were members of bottom-feeding species--sole and halibut---caught near offshore sewage outfalls off the coast of both los angeles and orange counties.

dan schlenk, an environmental scientist at  university of california/riverside, now wonders whether other pollutants may be responsible. a reuters' article written by nichola groom, dated 11/14/2005, reported:

 "But in this instance, Schlenk said higher levels of the egg protein were found in male fish in areas with lower levels of estrogen and estrogen-like chemicals in the sediment. The cause of the female characteristics, therefore, could be unknown chemicals in the sediment, he said.

"We might have other players in this game," Schlenk said in an interview on Monday. "We would guess they are primarily coming from waste water."

He said the sewage contained natural and man-made chemicals that was deposited in ocean sediment.

One of the culprits could be DDT, Schlenk said, a pesticide banned in the United States in 1972 after it was shown to cause reproductive damage to birds. DDT is no longer used but can remain in the environment for a long time.

Los Angeles County's sewage outfall, Schlenk said, "has probably one of the most contaminated DDT sites in North America, and these responses are fairly consistent with that kind of exposure."

between the 1950s and 1970s, an estimated 1700 tons of ddt is believed to have been dumped into the los angeles county sewer system as waste water discharge by the montrose chemical corporation in torrance, ca.  from there it flowed into the pacific ocean thru a submerged outfall at white's point on the eastern edge of the palos verdes peninsula.  the contaminated area is several miles long with deposits of ddt as thick as 40cm (15.7") in places.

should similar ambisextrous abnormalities be discovered in the gulf of mexico, i wonder if texans would then feel morally bound to amend their constitution by prohibiting the taking of same-sex fish.