http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/artic... Five of the more than 500 dolphins that have washed ashore dead along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas over the past two years died from a bacterial infection called Brucella, federal scientists announced Thursday.
And last year's Deepwater Horizon oil spill may have played a role, they said.
"The working hypothesis is that the oil negatively impacted the dolphins' immune system," said Teri Rowles, coordinator of the National Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program.
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Over the winter, anglers began pulling in red snapper that didn't look right. The fish had dark lesions on their skin. Many had fins rotting away, and discolored or even striped skin. Inside, they had enlarged livers, gallbladders and bile ducts. Jim Cowan, an oceanographer at Louisiana State University who examined them, said in April, "There's no doubt it's associated with a chronic exposure to a toxin."
Cowan said he thought the toxin to be oil from the BP spill. The investigation is continuing.
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The big energy companies are just as out of control as a deregulated Wall Street. Don't forget it!