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Dolphin death toll hits 105 in Panhandle Associated Press
CAPE SAN BLAS, Fla. - The death toll has reached 105 as scientists try to pinpoint what is killing bottlenose dolphins off the Florida Panhandle.
Most of the deaths have occurred in and around St. Joseph's Bay in Gulf County, but the last two carcasses were discovered Tuesday west of here in neighboring Bay County at Mexico Beach and Panama City Beach.
Scientists suspect a naturally occurring biotoxin such as red tide algae may be causing the deaths that have occurred since March 10.
A high level of brevetoxin, a powerful neurotoxin released by red tide, is in the marine mammals' stomach contents, urine and feces, but internal lesions usually associated with the poison are absent, said Sara Wilkins of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
"We're not ruling anything out," she said.
If a biotoxin is the cause, the dolphins may have eaten fish that had ingested it somewhere else, Wilkins said. Scientists have been unable to spot red tide on satellite images of the region, but Wilkins noted the blooms can be hard to find because some are far offshore or beneath the surface.
The large size of some carcasses also indicates they lived far offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, said Anne Harvey, park manager for St. Joseph Peninsula State Park. Most of the dead animals have washed up at the park on this peninsula about 80 miles southwest of Tallahassee.
Offshore dolphins are usually longer and weigh more than their inshore counterparts and need more room to swim than usually available in bays and inlets, Harvey said.
The deaths apparently have made little dent in the dolphin population. Dolphin tour operators said the animals seem to be just as plentiful as in years past.
Harvey said park rangers have reported a drop in sightings here, but visitors continue to spot live dolphins in the bay.