Ocean Sentry
(From news-journalonline.com)- Since mid-May, 46 bottlenose dolphins have stranded themselves and died on beaches throughout the Indian River Lagoon, alarming scientists who say that”s six more dolphins than they usually find in an entire year. In 2001, 34 dolphins stranded. Two years earlier, 100,000 horseshoe crabs died. Most of the dolphins have been emaciated, with no food in their stomachs, said Blair Mase, the southeast regional marine mammal stranding coordinator for the National Marine Fisheries Service. The deaths could be the result of harmful algal blooms or even regular diseases or toxins, Mase said. They had suspected a form of toxin released by a kind of algae called pyrodidium.
(By DINAH VOYLES PULVER)
