From recovery to rehabilitation, MOTE Marine has been swamped with red tide impacts.
Almost 50 dolphins have been left stranded on Florida shores, since July. The number of dolphin deaths has forced the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to declare this an unusual mortality event.
“They have to meet criteria in order for that to be declared we have met that by having far more stranding than what we usually have in time and space and with this incident of red tide,” said Gretchen Lovewell.
Several of the dolphin’s necropsies tested positive for the deadly red tide toxin…
“That led to their cause of death that was part what determined or caused the national fishery services to determine this, an unusual mortality event,” said Lovewell.
MOTE has been the primary responder in both Sarasota and Manatee counties. NOAA Fisheries designated Stranding Investigations Program Manager, Gretchen Lovewell as the On-site coordinator.
“I’ll be working very closely with investigators to determine what sorts of sampling we can even do,” Lovewell continued. “What other experts we need to bring in, and kind of pulling together all the data not only from us but from our partners as well.”
Although the number of stranding’s above the historic average, this is not the first time a UME has impacted the Suncoast.
“This isn’t an unprecedented event we’ve had these before, well take what we learned from those and add it to what we learned from those and try to pull together a better picture,”said Lovewell
Updates on the investigation can be found on NOAA’s UME webpage.
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