Perplexing Spike in Dolphin Deaths Hits Atlantic Coast

I heard this story on NPR news today , link here: High Numbers Of Dead Dolphins On East Coast.
The thread titleis article (the title article) is from www.wired.com...

Since the beginning of July, more than 100 dolphins have washed up dead along the U.S. East Coast, from New York to Virginia. No one knows why, or whether the deaths are connected.

Update, 8:30 a.m. Pacific: This morning, NOAA declared the increase in dolphin deaths an Unusual Mortality Event, which means the federal government will now assist in the investigation. “Based on the rapid increase in strandings over the last two weeks and the geographic extent of these mortalities, an infectious pathogen is at the top of the list of potential causes for this UME,” NOAA states. “But all potential causes of these mortalities will be evaluated.”

Update, 11:50 a.m. Pacific: NOAA now reports that 35 dolphins have died in August. Since July, only seven dolphins have been found stranded alive, but they died shortly after rescue. The stranding is affecting dolphins of all ages and sizes, and both sexes. Most of the carcasses have been too decomposed for further testing, but staff from the Virginia Aquarium retrieved a fresh male this morning that could be helpful. If you see stranded dolphins along the northeast coast, NOAA advises staying away from them and calling the Stranding and Entanglement Hotline: 1-866-755-6622.

This makes me so sad.
On NPR they interviewed the Stranded Expert, who said they think it might be a virus or bacterial anomaly.

Also, they said that there are two different "stocks" of bottlenose dolphins - one that is migratory coastal - which is what folks see on the Atlantic beaches - and the other is a deep-sea "stock" that is bigger and stronger, which they think is due to them having to work harder to find food.

This makes me so sad.

I can't help but immediately blame "pollution" or "over-fishing" for their decline - but I guess virus epidemics (they mentioned a measles-like die-off in the 1980s) do happen. The expert said they aren't seeing evidence of fishing-gear entanglement or other human-caused injury.......
but....what about oceanic pollution???

We really know SO LITTLE about the other creatures (visibly huge to microscopic) we share this planet with. This reminds me of the "amoeba" who farm and are armed which related thread was on here a few days back.

I have a real affinity for dolphins and whales - this makes me just as sad as the bee die-offs.

When will humans stop pillaging and spoiling this planet? I don't know.

Pollution certainly seems a good possibility if bacterial infections are being ruled out. Even if the direct cause proves to be biological, it does not preclude the possibility of pollution being the ultimate cause of death. I'll post 3 links below that relate to the issue of the oil dispersal from MC252.

I almost hate to bring this up, but "The Bay", 2012 (see IMDB for synopsis) offers a nice, lurid scenario of what might happen when pollution meets the marine environment. Vibrio vulnificus, Psuedomonas putida, Aeromonas hydrophilia, among others, are not to be taken lightly in their natural condition. Horrible to think what might happen if they were souped up. . .and Macondo wasn't chickenshi**. Maybe you should keep an eye on this situation and think about moving it over to the Macondo/Deepwater thread if no reasonable explanation for the deaths is forthcoming. Nice catch.

viperson.ru... Proof.pdf
Modeling 3-D Transport and Dispersal of Oil Plume Released During BP/Horizon Accident in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010

environmentalresearchweb.org... e/news/43681 Sep 6, 2010
Deepwater Horizon oil could reach Atlantic Ocean

Virginia Marine Institute
www.vims.edu...
www.youtube.com...

I've been following this story in the local news here in Va., as we have had a few wash up on Norfolk over the last few weeks. It is sad to see this kind of thing happening, and I'm very curious as to what could be causing such a spike in dolphin deaths.

reply to post by k3d59


Thanks for the links! Yes, the Deepwater disaster CAN'T have been 'benign' ....
bummer.

I'll check out the thread -

I wonder if this is a precursor to anything upcoming.
I know dolphins are able to detect even the slightest changes in the electric and magnetic fields and with our sun hitting a solar maximum and incoming hits to our own magnetic grid...I question any possibility of a magnetic anomaly in this grid area.
Just a thought.

Here is a good graph to show the spike concentrated deaths recently:
www.wired.com...

When I hear about these kind of incidents, it makes me fully understand why some people want to step up to militancy in their attempts to save our environment from those poisoning it for profit.

reply to post by IvanAstikov

When I hear about these kind of incidents, it makes me fully understand why some people want to step up to militancy in their attempts to save our environment from those poisoning it for profit.

Indeed.

A member made this remark a few weeks ago:

Environmentalism is probably the most dangerous fastest spreading religion on the planet.

I protested, and the member than attacked me with "lol" and said I had "proved his point," and asked "why I posted such silliness," throwing in a phony "bravo."

Made me sick.

reply to post by DreamingMinds


Yes, I hoped people would go to the linked article in the OP (same one you linked to). I failed to mention it contained a graph however. Thanks for adding that in here.


Also, the sun's magnetism does flip every 20 years or so, so that would be a good candidate for further study. Dolphins are amazing creatures. Even if it is the sun, I'd want to know, so that I'm reassured that people didn't cause it (this time). Still doesn't erase the sadness though.

Some think the bee die-off is also related to magnetic issues - whether due to microwave towers or the sun, or chemicals, or what have you, we STILL need the bees.

I just found out about this today. It's truly heartbreaking. Needless to say, even if I were interested in beach, I wouldn't want to make a trip out to the VA coast this summer. I think I'd have a nervous breakdown if I saw numerous dolphins just lying there on the shore once morning, deceased.

Maybe it's still the Navy Sonar affecting them? They've been told to cut back, but maybe they've resorted to something else, not knowing the repercussions, and now we're seeing the results? I dunno.

I hope they find out what's going on, but more importantly, I hope it stops SOON.

Maybe its the 800,000 - 1,000,000 gallons of Corexit... (during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster)...

A study found that Corexit increases the toxicity of oil by 52 times!

reply to post by Pharyax


Wasn't that in the gulf? I suppose it would have been carried by the gulf stream, but we would have seen these numbers much earlier.