November 29, 2011

Today's Wildlife Disease News Stories

TOP STORIES

Ill dolphin rescued in Alabama improving, 2 dead dolphins found in Mississippi

A sick dolphin rescued from a marshy area near Fort Morgan was being hand-fed fish Monday morning in a climate-controlled hospital tank at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, said its director, Mobi Solangi. The dolphin's condition has stabilized since it was found Friday, he said. The surviving dolphin is among 5 found stranded within a week in Mississippi and Alabama, he said. Two dead dolphins were found in Alabama last week.

On Sunday, 2 dead dolphins were found on beaches at Gulfport and Pass Christian, he said.
"This is probably the crop that was born in February and March this year," he said. … Solangi said a cause of death has not been determined. "It could be anything."

The live dolphin may provide answers to what's been killing dolphins in the northern Gulf of Mexico since February 2010 in what National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials have declared as an Unusual Mortality Event.

"This is a breakthrough, it is scientific breakthrough," Solangi said of the live dolphin found near Fort Morgan. "We'll find more answers that we've been able to get in looking dead animals. It is a piece of the puzzle to try to reconstruct what may be going on and that's the importance of this. We see this as a very important piece of the puzzle."

Gulf Live - www.gulflive.com
28 Nov 2011
Location: Gulfport, Mississippi, USA - Map It 

Pass Christian, Mississippi, USA - Map It 
Port Morgan, Alabama, USA - Map It 

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[Environmental Alert manatee death in Santander]

[The mammal was found dead last Friday in the Wall swamp, located between the municipalities of Sabana de Torres and Puerto Wilches, Santander. Remember that this body of water is the only habitat where no record of a community of manatee, a species almost extinct in Santander and Magdalena Medio.

James Rodriguez, director of the City Council of Sabana de Torres Verde, a nongovernmental organization, NGO, dedicated to the protection of the environment in the region, told the manatee died Vanguardia.com is an instance of two meters and 35 centimeters and two years.

"The manatee was found in an advanced state of decomposition. We are not certain of the causes of his death. Your body does not record evidence of trauma, so the hypothesis of his death would be more complex, for example, effects of pollutants ...", said James Rodriguez.

Green council has repeatedly denounced the ecosystem of the manatee is "highly threatened" by the African palm plantations in the area and cattle grazing.]

Vanguardia - www.vanguardia.com
27 Nov 2011
Location: Sabana de Torres, Colombia - Map It 


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Sea turtle found in Pacific Rim park

A species of sea turtle never before seen in B.C. waters arrived on Wickaninnish Beach this week.

Parks Canada, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Vancouver Aquarium worked together to confirm the event as the first-ever sighting of an olive ridley sea turtle in B.C. waters.

… A visitor to Pacific Rim National Park Reserve discovered the stranded and badly injured turtle on the beach on Tuesday. The visitor alerted park staff who examined the turtle and noted it had a broken shell and very few signs of life, only occasional flipper and eye movements.

Staff took the turtle away for monitoring and transport and on Wednesday staff from Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Marine Mammal Response Network took the turtle for further examination. The Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre provided help identifying and assessing the turtle, stabilizing the animal and recommending treatment.

"Since there was a small chance the turtle was affected by cold-stunning, a comatose state that develops in sea turtles that are exposed to sub-optimal temperatures, the turtle was transported to the aquarium where Dr. Martin Haulena and his team could do an examination," stated the media release.

Canada.com - www.canada.com
27 Nov 2011
Location: British Columbia, Canada - Map It 


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OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo courtesy of The Guardian's Week in Wildlife