-
Trouble logging in? Send us a message with your username and/or email address for help.
Dead Dolphins
- Thread starter Lady D
- Start date
florida girl
Beach Fanatic
This article was in the Destin Log April 22, 2006:
What is killing the dolphins? Officials say they?ll try to find out
- NOAA plan to coordinate studies
Florida Freedom Newspapers
Wildlife officials consider the dozens of dolphin deaths in Northwest Florida waters as a serious problem and will throw more resources at trying to determine the cause.
The National Marine Fisheries Service last week declared the rise in bottlenose dolphin deaths an ?unusual mortality event,? an official designation that gives researchers more help and money to examine the situation.
?It kind of formalizes the investigation,? said Laura Engleby, a marine mammal biologist with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.
The decision was recommended when a consulting committee of scientists looked at the jump in deaths in March.
Since October, 90 dolphins have died along the Panhandle ? generally defined as Escambia County east to Franklin County.
In March alone, 29 dolphin deaths were reported. The average along the Panhandle is 24 deaths in a year, NOAA says.
?Basically, the reason it was declared an unusual mortality event was because there was a marked increase in dolphin mortalities,? Engleby said.
Sabrina Bowen, another biologist with NOAA, will work as on-site coordinator in Panama City.
?Right now my main concern is collecting the dolphin carcasses and then sending them to the lab,? Bowen said.
While Choctawhatchee Bay has seen some of the deaths, the investigation will encompass the entire Panhandle, Bowen said. The last reported deaths came from Bay and Escambia counties, she said.
With the declaration, money can be drawn from a fund set up for unusual mortality events, which is a big help, Bowen said.
?When you get this many animals, it gets expensive,? said Bowen, who added that it helps across the board, especially in taking some strain off volunteer efforts.
Bowen said the agency has started looking for what?s wrong but doesn?t know when answers will be available.
One cause still under consideration is red tide, an algal bloom that produces a potent neurotoxin.
?It?s a little early to determine the cause, but it?s definitely something being looked at,? Bowen said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is also looking into fish kills of sturgeon, gar and anchovies and bird deaths in Choctawhatchee Bay.
?(Researchers are) still investigating and are still doing analyses and they hope go have a summary done soon,? FWC spokeswoman Jess Brown said.
The last time an unusual mortality event for dolphins was declared for the Panhandle was in St. Joseph Bay in Gulf County in 2004. That outbreak, which claimed 107 bottlenose dolphins between March 10 and April 13, was attributed to red tide.
Personally, I think it is Katrina related, all that waste in the Gulf, it's bound to go into the bays and rivers that attach to the Gulf. Just make sure to cook the fish thoroughly!
What is killing the dolphins? Officials say they?ll try to find out
- NOAA plan to coordinate studies
Florida Freedom Newspapers
Wildlife officials consider the dozens of dolphin deaths in Northwest Florida waters as a serious problem and will throw more resources at trying to determine the cause.
The National Marine Fisheries Service last week declared the rise in bottlenose dolphin deaths an ?unusual mortality event,? an official designation that gives researchers more help and money to examine the situation.
?It kind of formalizes the investigation,? said Laura Engleby, a marine mammal biologist with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.
The decision was recommended when a consulting committee of scientists looked at the jump in deaths in March.
Since October, 90 dolphins have died along the Panhandle ? generally defined as Escambia County east to Franklin County.
In March alone, 29 dolphin deaths were reported. The average along the Panhandle is 24 deaths in a year, NOAA says.
?Basically, the reason it was declared an unusual mortality event was because there was a marked increase in dolphin mortalities,? Engleby said.
Sabrina Bowen, another biologist with NOAA, will work as on-site coordinator in Panama City.
?Right now my main concern is collecting the dolphin carcasses and then sending them to the lab,? Bowen said.
While Choctawhatchee Bay has seen some of the deaths, the investigation will encompass the entire Panhandle, Bowen said. The last reported deaths came from Bay and Escambia counties, she said.
With the declaration, money can be drawn from a fund set up for unusual mortality events, which is a big help, Bowen said.
?When you get this many animals, it gets expensive,? said Bowen, who added that it helps across the board, especially in taking some strain off volunteer efforts.
Bowen said the agency has started looking for what?s wrong but doesn?t know when answers will be available.
One cause still under consideration is red tide, an algal bloom that produces a potent neurotoxin.
?It?s a little early to determine the cause, but it?s definitely something being looked at,? Bowen said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is also looking into fish kills of sturgeon, gar and anchovies and bird deaths in Choctawhatchee Bay.
?(Researchers are) still investigating and are still doing analyses and they hope go have a summary done soon,? FWC spokeswoman Jess Brown said.
The last time an unusual mortality event for dolphins was declared for the Panhandle was in St. Joseph Bay in Gulf County in 2004. That outbreak, which claimed 107 bottlenose dolphins between March 10 and April 13, was attributed to red tide.
Last edited by a moderator:
Smiling JOe
SoWal Expert
So if you are correct and the Dolphins are dieing from toxic waste, cooking fish thoroughly illiminates the toxins?florida girl said:
rosiee7777
scooter
I was talking to an old Freeport boat captain earlier in the year , he has lived here and fished theses waters for 60 years, we were talking about the hurricanes and how they come in 30 yr cycles, the one thing that stuck in my mind was he said "when the jelly fish come in and the dolphins start beaching themselves,pack yer bag sweety and head north".
I hope he is not right.
I hope he is not right.
florida girl
Beach Fanatic
Probably not, but I haven't seen any fish advisories posted, have you? I have heard of some getting sick after eating fish from the bay. And I have seen, and smelled, more than I'd like of dead fish!
Smiling JOe
SoWal Expert
Ever been to the Sultan Sea? Plenty of dead fish there because it gets so darn salty.florida girl said:
florida girl
Beach Fanatic
No, I'm a native of South Walton, and have fished in the bay, and surrounding areas all my life. It is distressing to me that the bay has problems, and very little seems to be done about it.
aquaticbiology
fishlips
this morning St Andrews Bay smelled like a dead animal on the side of road - i don't like the looks of things either - not nearly enough baby fish or shrimp in the bay, no huge bait balls to speak of like last May - i was talking to some folks from PCML yesterday and they pretty much as said that the red tide never went away in the bay and the flippers that have died had upper respiratory infections like most of us have had this year - could possibly be from hurricanes last year, so nobody is sure
of all the problems noted in st andrews bay (possibly the same for choctowatchee bay) the eelgrass and turtle grass being covered with fuzz is probably the most alarming - i can't ever remember seeing it this thick before
however, on the up side, there were plenty of live happy dolphins playing around the boat last evening (with babies), they were even pulling off hooked fish in the pass, and big redfish were all over the rocks, so it may be just a natural recovery process at work
of all the problems noted in st andrews bay (possibly the same for choctowatchee bay) the eelgrass and turtle grass being covered with fuzz is probably the most alarming - i can't ever remember seeing it this thick before
however, on the up side, there were plenty of live happy dolphins playing around the boat last evening (with babies), they were even pulling off hooked fish in the pass, and big redfish were all over the rocks, so it may be just a natural recovery process at work