Earth Watch Report - Mass Animal Deaths
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| Biological Hazard | USA | State of Virginia, [Chesapeake Bay coastal regions] |  |  |
Biological Hazard in USA on Tuesday, 06 August, 2013 at 09:06 (09:06 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
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Scientists are working to unravel why there has been a surge in the
number of beached dolphins found along the eastern coast of the U.S.. A
total of 44 bottlenose dolphins were found in July, washed up along the
southern part of Chesapeake Bay in Virginia - around eight times as many
as normal, according to the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team.
Researchers are struggling to work out the cause of the deaths, but
suspect a virus is to blame, as a similarly morbid bout of dolphin
deaths occurred in 1987 and were the result of a measles-like disease.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has asked stranding
centres situated along the coastline to record the number of dead
dolphins found in a bid to find a pattern in the spikes. Susan Barco,
research coordinator for the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science
Centre, told The Virginian-Pilot : 'We've had a steady number coming in
at the beginning of the summer, and starting last week, the numbers
spiked...We're just trying to keep our head above water.' The states of
Delaware and Maryland has also seen a rise in dolphin deaths and
according to a report in The Press of Atlantic City, around 10 dead
dolphins were found in a month - double that than usually recorded.
Scientists in New Jersey have reportedly said necropsy results have
indicated pneumonia might be to blame, but a spokesman for NOAA's
National Marine Fisheries Service admitted no-one knows what is causing
the mysterious dolphin deaths but data is being collected. However, the stranding team in Virginia said the numbers of dolphins found beached reminds them of mass deaths that occurred in 1987, when over 750 carcasses were washed ashore between Florida and New Jersey. It took a few years to determine that morbillivirus - a disease similar to the measles - was to blame but the dolphins did show symptoms similar to those of measles and pneumonia. Ms Barco said: 'It's eerily familiar...That is one virus we're looking for now.' Bottlenose dolphins live in pods of between two and 15 creatures off the East Coast of the US and spend the majority of the year in the warmer southern waters, before moving to the bays of the Mid-Atlantic between may and October, Bob Schoelkopf, director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, New Jersey. A total of 87 dolphin carcasses including those of the bottlenose species, have been collected by the response team in Virginia so far this year, compared to a usual count of 87 dolphins for the entire calendar year. Volunteers have had the unenviable task of collecting the dolphin remains - many of which are already very decomposed - which are analysed by marine biologists. It is difficult for the scientists to gain valuable information about any suspected virus when the carcasses are in bad shape. The volunteers are combing the coast to find bodies of newly-dead dolphins to give the scientists a better chance of finding animals that might help them come up with the reason for the deaths. Krystle Rodrique, a volunteer with the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team described the smell of the pinky-white carcasses as a cross between a pet shop and rotting fish. She told The Virginian-Pilot: 'You get used to the smell, but I never can really get it off my hands...I try to scrub them over and over again.' Ms Barco said the volunteers have not seen any physical marks of trauma on the dolphins' bodies that would indicate they have gotten tangled in nets or confused by sonar systems used by the Navy, that have been blamed for whale and dolphin beachings in the past. Ted Brown, a spokesman for the Navy's Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, told The Virginian-Pilot there has been no change or increase in sonar use that could be related to the increase in dolphin deaths. Around 60 volunteers plus interns and permanent staff are working in Virginia to determine the cause of the deaths but they do not have specialist labs and are working from tents. It found baleen whale species, which include the blue whale, react to the mid frequency noises by changing behaviour. This includes altering foraging so they miss out on high-quality prey, which could make them weak and decimate numbers through starvation. The soundwaves, developed by the military to track enemies beneath the waves, are between 1 and 10 kHz, which is within the human hearing band. They have been blamed for lethal mass stranding of deep diving toothed whales. Sonar is thought to disrupt the animals’ diving behaviour so much that they suffer a condition rather like ‘the bends’. |
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| Biohazard name: | Mass. Die-off (dolphins) |
| Biohazard level: | 0/4 --- |
| Biohazard desc.: | This does not included biological hazard category. |
| Symptoms: | |
| Status: | confirmed |
Biological Hazard in USA on Tuesday, 06 August, 2013 at 09:06 (09:06 AM) UTC.
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| Updated: | Wednesday, 14 August, 2013 at 06:38 UTC |
| Description | |
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A dolphin die-off in the Mid-Atlantic region is hitting Virginia
hardest. Nearly 50 dolphins were found dead or dying in Virginia in July
- seven times the normal rate for that month - and the pace is picking
up. "August is looking to be significantly worse," said Mark Swingle,
director of research and conservation for the Virginia Aquarium Marine
Science Center in Virginia Beach. The nonprofit aquarium is home to
Virginia’s sole program for responding to stranded dolphins, whales and
sea turtles. Bottlenose dolphins, intelligent and charismatic mammals
loved by the public, are dying at abnormally high rates this summer from
New York to Virginia - 156 animals from July 1 through Monday. The
average for a full year in that region is 99. Most of the dolphins
washed up dead. Some died soon after being found or were so near death
they had to be euthanized. None has survived to be returned to the wild.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week declared
the deaths "an unusual mortality event" - a declaration that frees up
extra scientific expertise to investigate the case. In Virginia, about a half-dozen dolphins normally wash up in July, and an additional half-dozen in August. Last month, there were 48, and this month there were 35 through Monday, officials said. Such a large number before mid-August "is not a good sign," Swingle said. Virginia’s 83 deaths lead among the affected states, far surpassing second-place New Jersey’s 39. The cause of the deaths is a mystery. It could be that some disease is working its way through the dolphin population. That’s what happened in 1987, the last time the East Coast experienced a similar die-off. More than 740 dolphins succumbed from New Jersey to Florida. More than 200 died in Virginia, the most of any state along the coast. Experts linked the deaths to a virus found in some marine mammals, morbillivirus. Toxins from harmful algae may have contributed to some deaths. Preliminary tests indicate a few of the dolphins that died this summer suffered from morbillivirus, but experts say it’s too early to say that’s causing all the deaths. It could be that some other problem - a toxic-chemical spill, say, or a release of toxins by algae - weakened dolphins’ immune systems, making them vulnerable to a disease they normally would ward off. Morbillivirus is similar to measles in people, said Mendy Garron, the marine mammal stranding coordinator for NOAA’s Maine-to-Virginia region. "The measles can potentially kill someone if their immune system is suppressed," Garron said. "It’s kind of that same concept." The investigation of the deaths could take months or even years, officials say. That means no one can help the animals that are dying now. But the investigation might shed light on similar events in the future. It’s not clear why most of the stricken dolphins are washing up in Virginia. It could be that some local pollution problem is hurting the dolphins, experts said. Or it could be something as simple as currents carrying bodies here. There is another possible, and simple, explanation: Of all the affected states, Virginia has the most dolphins. Thousands of the mammals live and migrate along the East Coast, and their Virginia numbers peak in summer. "Since there are more animals in Virginia, obviously we are going to see more animals affected," Swingle said. People love dolphins, and they are concerned about the deaths. But Swingle said there is another reason to pay attention. "Marine mammals are mammals like you and I. They get some of the same diseases that we get. They are sort of sentinels for us in the water. When they are having trouble … we certainly want to know what’s going on and understand it better." | |
Dolphin die-off hitting Virginia hardest
- Sarah Rose, with the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team, examines a dead dolphin.
Posted: Wednesday, August 14, 2013 9:15 am
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Updated: 9:28 am, Wed Aug 14, 2013.
A dolphin die-off in the Mid-Atlantic region is hitting Virginia hardest.
Nearly 50 dolphins were found dead or dying in Virginia in July — seven times the normal rate for that month — and the pace is picking up.
“August is looking to be significantly worse,” said Mark Swingle, director of research and conservation for the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach.
The nonprofit aquarium is home to Virginia’s sole program for responding to stranded dolphins, whales and sea turtles.
Bottlenose dolphins, intelligent and charismatic mammals loved by the public, are dying at abnormally high rates this summer from New York to Virginia — 156 animals from July 1 through Monday. The average for a full year in that region is 99.
Most of the dolphins washed up dead. Some died soon after being found or were so near death they had to be euthanized. None has survived to be returned to the wild.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week declared the deaths “an unusual mortality event” — a declaration that frees up extra scientific expertise to investigate the case.
In Virginia, about a half-dozen dolphins normally wash up in July, and an additional half-dozen in August. Last month, there were 48, and this month there were 35 through Monday, officials said.
Such a large number before mid-August “is not a good sign,” Swingle said.
Virginia’s 83 deaths lead among the affected states, far surpassing second-place New Jersey’s 39.
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