Three months after the death of 22 dolphins in Long Island, investigations reveal that they died as a result of starvation.
This according to information released from the Department of Fisheries. “There did not appear to be any significant inflammatory disease in the tissues examined. Because of the poor gross body condition and hepatic changes, it was concluded that the animals examined were consistent with chronic starvation and that they starved to death,” the Department said.
The 22 dolphins were part of a group of 40 that were stranded in Long Island stranded in Long Island between Deadman’s Cay and Mangrove Bush. The remaining 18 left the area unharmed.
On 1 November, 2002 , the Department of Fisheries received reports of a mass stranding of Bottlenose Dolphins.
Up to 40 creatures were reported as washed up in the shallows of Deadman’s Cay Sound. Reports indicated that live dolphins were seen in that area early in October 2002. At the request of the Department of Fisheries, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States conducted an aerial survey and subsequently a team of persons from NOAA Fisheries went to Long Island to assist in the investigations.
Along with an officer from the Bahamas Department of Fisheries, they collected various samples from some of the dolphins’ carcasses found. The samples were taken to the United States for examination by a team of experts.
The results of genetic tests performed on the samples obtained from stranded animals indicate that all of the samples examined were from animals of the off-shore sub-species of Trusiops truncatus, the Bottlenose Dolphin. It is the coastal variety of this species that is commonly encountered and observed in our waters. This supports the observations made at the time of the stranding in November 2002 that the animals involved were of a larger size than those usually encountered in The Bahamas.
“Analysis of the stomach contents of one of the animals indicated only the presence of Sargassum seaweed. The other tissue samples for the most part were in very poor condition, and it was difficult to obtain an indepth histological evaluation of them,” the department said.
“The results of the scans of the two skull samples taken remain outstanding. The results may or may not indicate the reason why these animals entered the shallows of the Deadman’s Cay Sound where they apparently became trapped and subsequently starved to death,” the department reported.
At the time of the deaths, Long Island residents were very concerned and hoped that the mammals’ deaths were not as a result of some sort of disease.
By Keva Lightbourne, The Nassau Guardian
