Spillway Opening Partly Blamed For Over 200 Bottlenose Dolphin Deaths In Gulf of Mexico

The alarming death of over 200 bottlenose dolphins in northern Gulf of Mexico, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida has got authorities concerned. Officials said 261 bottlenose dolphins were found stranded between Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle between February 1 and May 31, this year.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed that 98% of the dolphins were dead. The agency had declared this as an unusual mortality event (UME). NOAA defines UME as a stranding that is unexpected. It involves a significiant die-off of any marine mammal population and demands immediate response.

Erin Fougeres, a marine mammal stranding program administrator for NOAA said the number is three times the historical average in the northern gulf. “We are seeing higher numbers in Mississippi and Lousiana and we are concerned about fresh water. Its an exceptionally wet winter for the entire United States and its the wettest winter in the Mississippi Valley in the past 124 years," he said, reports CNN.

Fougeres said it is too early to say what was causing the deaths. Investigators are also looking at the salinity levels as bottlenose dolphins are usually found in waters with high saline levels. However, a Mississippi scientist said the spillway opening is partly to be blamed for the death of 126 dolphins across the Mississippi’s coastline. Experts attribute the dolphins’ death to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and to the Lousiana spillway opening, as well as food supply and wet winter.