Texas-Louisiana, USA/  While the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is out of control, the dead of Sea animals seems to go in the same direction. A total of 720 sea turtles have been verified from April 30 to July 25 within the designated spill area from the Texas/Louisiana border to Apalachicola, Florida. Four hundred and sixty hatchling turtles were released in Florida from nests that were moved from the northern Gulf of Mexico.

There are 209 live sea turtles in rehabilitation centers. These include 166 sea turtles captured as part of the on-water survey and rescue operations, and 43 turtles that stranded alive. A total of 189 stranded or captured turtles have had visible evidence of external oil since verifications began on April 30. These include 172 that are alive and 17 that are dead. All others have not had visible evidence of external oil.

Biodiversity facing dead

Of the 720 turtles verified from April 30 to July 25, a total of 484 stranded turtles were found dead, 58 stranded alive. Four of those subsequently died. Eleven live stranded turtles were released, and 43 live stranded turtles are being cared for at rehabilitation centers. Turtle strandings during this time period have been much higher in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle than in previous years for this same time period. This may be due in part to increased detection and reporting, but this does not fully account for the increase.

The NOAA Ship Pisces reported a dead 25-foot sperm whale on June 15, 2010, that was located 150 miles due south of Pascagoula, Mississippi and approximately 77 miles due south of the spill site last week. The whale was decomposed and heavily scavenged. Samples of skin and blubber have been taken and will be analyzed. The whale had not evidence of external oil. Sperm whales are the only endangered resident cetacean in the Upper Gulf of Mexico. There are no records of stranded whales in the Gulf of Mexico for the month of June for the period 2003-2007.

From April 30 to July 25, 69 stranded dolphins have been verified in the designated spill area. Of the 69 strandings, five were live strandings, three of which died shortly after stranding, one was released and one is in rehabilitation. Sixty-three dolphins were found stranded dead. Visible evidence of external oil was confirmed on four dolphins. We are unable at this time to determine whether the three dead stranded dolphins were externally oiled before or after death.

More than ever

Since April 30, the stranding rate for dolphins in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle has been higher than the historic numbers for the same time period in previous years. In part, this may be due to increased detection and reporting and the lingering effects of an earlier observed spike in strandings for the winter of 2010.

A stranding is defined as a dead or debilitated animal that washes ashore or is found in the water. NOAA and its partners are analyzing the cause of death for the dead stranded and dead captured sea turtles and the stranded marine mammals. This report contains corrections based on new information. The status of one live dolphin was changed from oiled to unoiled based on further evaluation.