Dolphin Deaths on the Rise in 2013

NEW YORK (AskHoffa) – Dolphin Deaths are on the rise again for the first time in 25 years. Please do not approach the animals as disease may be a factor. Instead please contact NOAA’s marine mammal stranding network at 1-866-755-6622.

More than 120 dead animals have been discovered since June from New Jersey to Virginia, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service said.

A number of things can cause dolphins to strand, including harmful algal blooms, infectious viruses, injuries due to ship strikes, pollutants and human-made runoff, NOAA said.

Although the cause has not been determined, early tissue analysis showed that one suspect could be morbillivirus, an infectious pathogen, said Teri Rowles, national marine mammal stranding coordinator for NOAA Fisheries.

In this month alone, 28 dolphins were found dead. It has been 25 years since the last large die-off of dolphins along the U.S. coast. In 1987, more than 740 animals died of morbillivirus on the coast from New Jersey to Florida.

Scientists warned the public not to approach the animals if they see one stranded because they could harbor an infectious disease.

They ask that dead or stranded mammals in the Northeast be reported to NOAA’s marine mammal stranding network at 1-866-755-6622.