Dead dolphins hit Panhandle shores
Number of dead babies along coast baffles scientists
Stephanie Kadletz, animal care specialist with Bayside Hospital for Animals in Fort Walton Beach, examines a baby bottlenose dolphin that was found on Perdido Key earlier this week. / Special to the News Journal
Report dead dolphins
Call Southeast Region Stranding Network at (877) 942-5343
A premature bottlenose dolphin was found dead on the beach at Perdido Key State Park this week, the third young dolphin found on local beaches since Jan. 1.
Scientists are trying to figure out what killed 83 bottlenose dolphins — 44 of them babies — found so far this year from the Panhandle to Louisiana, said Kim Amendola, a spokeswomen for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in St. Petersburg.
The number of deaths has peaked three times in the past 13 months for all dolphins and whales along the northern Gulf Coast. Normally, one to two dolphins wash up in each state in January and February.
"We don't know what the cause is," Amendola said. "Everything has an equal playing field, from a virus, weather to the oil spill."
Steve Shippee, Marine Mammal Stranding team coordinator, offered another possibility. He said the increase could be because more people have been monitoring beaches since April 20 spill.
"This year, there's more eyes looking," he said.
In the past, if a fragile, baby dolphin washed up on the beach on a frigid day in the winter, predators may well have eaten it before someone could discover it, he said.
Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge in Fort Walton Beach collected the baby dolphin found this week and sent it to Bayside Hospital for a necropsy, the animal version of an autopsy. It could take months before results are available.
The other two dolphins were found on the shore of a Paradise Bay home on East Bay on Jan. 5 and at Fort Pickens beach on Jan. 21.
"Is there some type of virus or algae bloom, or is it the cold temperatures we had? Or does it have something to do with the BP disaster?" Shippee asked. "No one is pointing a finger to any one thing."
Stephanie Kadletz, animal care specialist with Bayside Hospital for Animals in Fort Walton Beach, examines a baby bottlenose dolphin that was found on Perdido Key earlier this week. / Special to the News Journal
Report dead dolphins
Call Southeast Region Stranding Network at (877) 942-5343Scientists are trying to figure out what killed 83 bottlenose dolphins — 44 of them babies — found so far this year from the Panhandle to Louisiana, said Kim Amendola, a spokeswomen for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in St. Petersburg.
The number of deaths has peaked three times in the past 13 months for all dolphins and whales along the northern Gulf Coast. Normally, one to two dolphins wash up in each state in January and February.
"We don't know what the cause is," Amendola said. "Everything has an equal playing field, from a virus, weather to the oil spill."
Steve Shippee, Marine Mammal Stranding team coordinator, offered another possibility. He said the increase could be because more people have been monitoring beaches since April 20 spill.
"This year, there's more eyes looking," he said.
In the past, if a fragile, baby dolphin washed up on the beach on a frigid day in the winter, predators may well have eaten it before someone could discover it, he said.
Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge in Fort Walton Beach collected the baby dolphin found this week and sent it to Bayside Hospital for a necropsy, the animal version of an autopsy. It could take months before results are available.
The other two dolphins were found on the shore of a Paradise Bay home on East Bay on Jan. 5 and at Fort Pickens beach on Jan. 21.
"Is there some type of virus or algae bloom, or is it the cold temperatures we had? Or does it have something to do with the BP disaster?" Shippee asked. "No one is pointing a finger to any one thing."
A Song For Our Dolphin Friends. Recorded by IceMan and his friend David on the harmonica. He is trying to spread the word of what is going to most certainly be the worst man-made disaster to hit the US since 911. But alas even our hero, IceMan is not immune to the effects of the VOC's. His blood test results are high in several different toxins produced from crude oil. The IceMan would never ask for help, so I am for him. Please pass this video on to do your part too. The dolphins and us are counting on you.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW7ikLvIUqU&tracker=False
I don't think there is anything baffling about it. When BP is allowed to pump a dangerous neurotoxin into the waters of the gulf for weeks straight, does it really require a PhD to make a connection between this and all of these dead and dying marine species? How disgusting.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this post, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete