Treyfish
Moderator
***************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Sun 6 Jun 2010
Source: USA Today [edited]
<http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2010-06-06-dolphins_N.htm>
Federal environmental regulators are investigating an unusually large
number of bottlenose dolphin deaths along the northern coast of the
Gulf of Mexico that occurred:magnify: before the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon
oil spill.
There were 62 dolphin deaths from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle
in March [2010] and an additional 39 in April, said Erin Fougeres, a
marine mammal biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) Marine Fisheries Service. The average is 18 for
March and 13 for April, she said.
It's the highest number of recorded dolphin deaths in 7 years, said
NOAA Public Affairs spokeswoman Monica Allen. For the entire Northern
Gulf of Mexico, the combined range is 0-14 deaths a year, Allen said.
NOAA has declared the deaths an "unusual mortality event" and ordered
a panel of specialists to investigate them, she said.
The deaths are being investigated as scientists study the effect on
marine life by the oilrig explosion, which has sent millions of
gallons of crude into the Gulf. Since 30 Apr 2010, 29 dolphins have
washed ashore dead within the designated spill area from Texas to
Florida, Allen said. None of them showed external signs of "oiling" or
damage from the oil slick, she said.
From 5000 to 6000 strandings are
reported in the USA each year, Allen said. If not dead, the dolphins
are injured or unable to get back to the open water, she said.
Moby Solangi, president of the private, non-profit Institute for
Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Mississippi, attributed this recent
death spike to a colder than usual winter. Though the deaths in March
and April are unusually high, he said, there is some variation in
death rates from year to year. "Mortality is not constant," he said.
NOAA also is monitoring a small spike in dolphin deaths in South
Carolina, Fougeres said, as well as deaths on Florida's Atlantic
Coast. Marine biologists at Hubbs-Sea World reported 40 deaths in
Florida's Indian River Lagoon between Volusia and Brevard counties
since 1 Jan 2010. The annual norm is 65.
Seven criteria are needed for an unusual mortality event to be
declared, said Megan Stolen, a biologist with Hubbs-Sea World. They
include a marked increase in mortality, localization of the deaths,
similar or unusual diseases or pathologies, and deaths accompanied by
odd behavior.
The Indian River Lagoon had an unusual mortality event in 2008, when
89 bottlenose dolphins died in Brevard and Volusia. No cause was ever
found. Although the latest lagoon deaths meet the increase in
mortality criteria, they meet none of the others, Stolen said. The
deaths were spread out over a large area and have no common
pathological links, she said. "Right now, we're higher than normal,
and everyone is concerned, but it's not fitting a pattern that
suggests there is one cause,"
she said.
[Byline: Jeff Schweers]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Hopefully necropsies either have been or will be performed. If they
have been and there are no clues, this is rather alarming. Were tests
for domoic acid and paralytic shellfish poisoning performed?
Morbillivirus infection is another possibility.
We know unusual weather has an effect on animals. Birds become
disoriented, food is more or less available. Would the abnormally cold
winter the south experienced have affected the water temperature,
having an effect on these mammals?
Photographs of the bottlenose dolphin may be found at
<http://photos.travelblog.org/Photos/17776/108683/f/748619-Bottlenose-dolphin-1.jpg>
&
<http://site.ecfs.org/lifescience/picture$233>. - Mod.TG]
:tiphat:http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,83147
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Sun 6 Jun 2010
Source: USA Today [edited]
<http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2010-06-06-dolphins_N.htm>
Federal environmental regulators are investigating an unusually large
number of bottlenose dolphin deaths along the northern coast of the
Gulf of Mexico that occurred:magnify: before the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon
oil spill.
There were 62 dolphin deaths from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle
in March [2010] and an additional 39 in April, said Erin Fougeres, a
marine mammal biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) Marine Fisheries Service. The average is 18 for
March and 13 for April, she said.
It's the highest number of recorded dolphin deaths in 7 years, said
NOAA Public Affairs spokeswoman Monica Allen. For the entire Northern
Gulf of Mexico, the combined range is 0-14 deaths a year, Allen said.
NOAA has declared the deaths an "unusual mortality event" and ordered
a panel of specialists to investigate them, she said.
The deaths are being investigated as scientists study the effect on
marine life by the oilrig explosion, which has sent millions of
gallons of crude into the Gulf. Since 30 Apr 2010, 29 dolphins have
washed ashore dead within the designated spill area from Texas to
Florida, Allen said. None of them showed external signs of "oiling" or
damage from the oil slick, she said.
From 5000 to 6000 strandings are reported in the USA each year, Allen said. If not dead, the dolphins
are injured or unable to get back to the open water, she said.
Moby Solangi, president of the private, non-profit Institute for
Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Mississippi, attributed this recent
death spike to a colder than usual winter. Though the deaths in March
and April are unusually high, he said, there is some variation in
death rates from year to year. "Mortality is not constant," he said.
NOAA also is monitoring a small spike in dolphin deaths in South
Carolina, Fougeres said, as well as deaths on Florida's Atlantic
Coast. Marine biologists at Hubbs-Sea World reported 40 deaths in
Florida's Indian River Lagoon between Volusia and Brevard counties
since 1 Jan 2010. The annual norm is 65.
Seven criteria are needed for an unusual mortality event to be
declared, said Megan Stolen, a biologist with Hubbs-Sea World. They
include a marked increase in mortality, localization of the deaths,
similar or unusual diseases or pathologies, and deaths accompanied by
odd behavior.
The Indian River Lagoon had an unusual mortality event in 2008, when
89 bottlenose dolphins died in Brevard and Volusia. No cause was ever
found. Although the latest lagoon deaths meet the increase in
mortality criteria, they meet none of the others, Stolen said. The
deaths were spread out over a large area and have no common
pathological links, she said. "Right now, we're higher than normal,
and everyone is concerned, but it's not fitting a pattern that
suggests there is one cause,"
she said.[Byline: Jeff Schweers]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Hopefully necropsies either have been or will be performed. If they
have been and there are no clues, this is rather alarming. Were tests
for domoic acid and paralytic shellfish poisoning performed?
Morbillivirus infection is another possibility.
We know unusual weather has an effect on animals. Birds become
disoriented, food is more or less available. Would the abnormally cold
winter the south experienced have affected the water temperature,
having an effect on these mammals?
Photographs of the bottlenose dolphin may be found at
<http://photos.travelblog.org/Photos/17776/108683/f/748619-Bottlenose-dolphin-1.jpg>
&
<http://site.ecfs.org/lifescience/picture$233>. - Mod.TG]
:tiphat:http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,83147