Dead Dolphin and an Eerie Encounter

Today was another day in paradise...

After 18 inches of rain in 30 hours, I was optimistic today that the red tide may be over. Under cover of the continuing moring showers, I headed to Fort Pickens. It was quite a sight with rain water everywhere! Fresh water ponds had formed in the dunes overnight and new rivers were draining them back into the Gulf. Driving the ATV was a lot of fun as I tried to find ways around the still rushing water. The obstacle course was made more challenging because I also didn't want to hit any of the dead fish, and they were everywhere...




Once I reached the Ranger Station, I spotted something large and very white in a high tide pool. Curious, I walked up to take a look. A dolphin had washed ashore sometime over the last five days since I'd been there. Watching the playful animals in the surf is one of my favorite things about life on the beach. After a call to my boss, I moved on to check the rest of the beach -- we'd deal with the stranding in a few hours.

I had to turn around before assessing the rest of the beach as some of the new drainage 'rivers' were impassable on my new ATV. I didn't want to go for an unplanned swim in the still toxic Gulf of Mexico!



When I reached the parking at the gate, the Santa Rosa Island Authority truck had just arrived. Clad in bright yellow slickers, the small group trundled down the beach, gathering the dead fish. I stopped to ask if they had any dead turtles or marine mammals. As a National Park biologist, I would assist the city as well. They hadn't seen any, but the strangest thing happened. One of them, a gentleman I do not know, took hold of my hand. He looked deep into my eyes, his mouth hidden behind the city-issued mask, and asked my name, then said he wanted to speak with me later. I never met him again today. It sent shivers down my spine -- I don't know what was going on!

It was still several hours til my boss was due to meet me, so I drove over to the Santa Rosa area, through some rather flooded streets:



Once there, I almost enjoyed the light rain as it washed the red tide out of my eyes, and I rode my ATV down to the Navarre end of the park. I thought I'd made it through without finding anything else too upsetting, but about 200 yards from the end of the seven mile stretch, there was another dead dolphin. This was a spotted dolphin, rocking back and forth in the sea. Tears mingled with the rain on my cheeks as I called my boss to tell him we had another stranding.

As I was finally returning to the spotted dolphin to meet Mark with all the gear necessary for a field necropsy, he called with more bad news. An adult female Loggerhead turtle had washed ashore, dead, in the Perdido Key area of the park.

In the early afternoon, the sun finally came out to brighten the day. Unfortunately, the absence of rain and presence of the south wind made the red tide almost intolerable. Mark chased me off the beach quickly, which was good as I was shaking and throwing up by the time I got my ATV back to the truck. Four days of red tide exposure, and all of those dead animals were quite enough!

I know it's mother nature at work, but still, I felt knocked out at the end of the day. Tomorrow I still have to necropsy the dolphin at Fort Pickens. Can't imagine why I feel so depressed :(