Institute for Marine Mammal Studies veterinary technician Wendy Hatchett lifts a dead bottlenose dolphin that was found on Ono Island, Ala., and brought for examination to Gulfport, Miss., Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011. Researchers say that more than a dozen young dolphins, either aborted before they reached maturity or dead soon after birth, have been collected along the Gulf Coast in the past two weeks -- about 10 times the normal number for the first two months of the year. Patrick Semansky / kansascity.com

By Mike Schneider
26 May 2011
 
ORLANDO, Florida — A marine researcher says the BP oil spill may be playing an indirect role in the unusually high number of young dolphins dying in the Gulf of Mexico recently. University of Central Florida researcher Graham Worthy says in a report he is presenting today that the oil and dispersants used to clean up the spill may have disrupted the food chain and prevented dolphin mothers from building up insulating blubber they need to withstand cold. That could have contributed to calves dying. Worthy says 153 bottlenose dolphins have washed up on Gulf coasts since January, including 65 newborn, infants, stillborn or those born prematurely. The presentation is being made in Orlando at a meeting of researchers studying the effects of the oil spill on Gulf marine life.

Dolphin deaths: BP oil spill may have had indirect role, researcher says