Date: Wed, 19 Feb 97 11:56:00 GMT

From: r.mallon1@genie.com

To: marmam@uvvm.uvic.ca, pita@whale.simmons.edu

Subject: Mexico declares emergency in whale, dolphin deaths

MEXICO CITY, Feb 18 (Reuter) - Mexican environmental officials said on Tuesday they have declared an environmental emergency due to the deaths of whales and dolphins in the Gulf of California. Authorities in northern Sinaloa state suspect the marine mammals may be dying from a chemical dumped in the sea by drug traffickers. The chemical, known as NK-19, is used to mark drug loads for nighttime detection from the air by other drugÿtraffickers. "This takes effect within an environmental emergency scheme," Luis Fuello of the Environment Ministry's prosecuting office in Culiacan, Sinaloa, told the television news programme 24 Hours. "This type of process is very rare." He did not provide statistics of the number of marine mammal deaths but called them "massive." Under the emergency plan, a special team of scientists will be assembled to study the cause of death. ÿThe Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortes, is the body of water between the Baja California peninsula and the Mexican mainland. Culiacan is at the southern end of the gulf on the mainland side. The gulf is rich in diverse marine life and is a main corridor for cocaine and other drug shipments destined for the United States. Workers for the city ofÿCuliacan on Sunday buried six whales and five dolphins that had washed ashore over the weekend, the Mexico City newspaper Excelsior reported. They avoided burning the dead animals so that scientists could study them, theÿnewspaper said.

Subject: Dolphin Death:Mexico-Dolphin Deaths (fwd)

Michael Williamson (pita@whale.simmons.edu)

Fri, 11 Apr 1997 14:30:59 -0400 (EDT)

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Environmental authorities said Monday that 162 dolphins found dead on Gulf of California beaches earlier this year died from red tide, a naturally occurring toxic algae. Investigators in the northern state of Sinaloa said they have largely discounted hypotheses that toxic wastes or chemical markers used by drug traffickers could have caused the deaths. "It can now be affirmed that the deaths were not caused by a spill of toxic substances," the Sinaloa Committee for Natural Resource Emergencies said in a report published by the Mexico City daily Reforma. The report says the dolphins, four whales and one sea lion, found dead in January and February, probably swam through a red-tide bloom in the open ocean, with their bodies washing ashore near the state capital of Culiacan. The Sinaloa coast is a main route for drug traffickers, who occasionally drop shipments at sea and mark them with a phosphorescent, cyanide-based chemical. Final results of an investigation should be available within two weeks.