June 17, 2019 — Scientists are trying to determine why more than 260 bottlenose dolphins have been found stranded along the Northern Gulf of Mexico since the beginning of February.
The number of dolphin deaths is about three times higher than the average for the time period, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Friday.
The strandings in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the panhandle of Florida have been declared an Unusual Mortality Event, or UME.
A UME is defined under the Marine Mammal Protection Act as “a stranding that is unexpected; involves a significant die-off of any marine mammal population; and demands immediate response.”