Marine Mammals in Mississippi

I don't think I've ever been to Mississippi to be in Mississippi before, though I have driven through. Monica and I spent the whole day there today at a marine mammal stranding conference/workshop sponsored by NOAA and NMFS. It was a fun way to spend the day and learn about new protocols addressing human interaction with marine mammals that have stranded.



NOAA flew in a stranding from Virginia Beach for us all to work on together. They had a UME (Unusual Mass Event) a month or so ago, and this Common Dolphin, Delphinus delphis, was part of that group. It was interesting to see the animal as it's not a species normally found in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Monica did a great job playing Vanna...



I know the pictures today are kind of sad, so I'm only putting a few in... It's not a lot of fun to do a necropsy, but it's so important to find out what's causing animals to beach themselves while live, or wash up dead. It's equally important to ensure that biologists doing the studies are all doing things the same
way -- consistent data are vital! Check out the tattoos here -- he had some very accurate corals on his arms :)



This stranding had some not fun stuff -- discoloration and possible infection in the lung, necrosis in one kidney, lots of parasitic cysts, and a parasitic worm in the nasal sinus among other anomalies. His belly was badly scratched from rocking against an oyster bed in the Chesapeake region, and he had rake marks on his right flipper and right flank. Dolphins do sometimes play rough! Anyway, it was a long day, but a good learning experience and a great chance to get to know more local stranding team members. It's so hard to find them in the Florida Panhandle west of Destin. It's good to know we have friends to call on if the marine mammals on our beaches have a rough day...

Clover and Gracie

Another cold, rainy Saturday at the office inspired me to go check on our two live strandings from this year -- meet the girls...

Clover is a green sea turtle with dislocated hips and a broken pelvis. When Mark and his sons rescued her, she was tiny and dark green.



Jennifer, Monica and I took her to the Gulfarium for rehab that very day. In the seven or eight months she's been in Destin, she's doubled in size, and lightened a lot in color. They're not sure what's causing that -- they are modifying her diet to see if they can change it. They may try to correct her badly healed hip/pelvis injury at Mote Marine Lab, but haven't yet. That will determine whether or not she is 'permanently disabled' and unreleasable.



Gracie, a large female Kemp's ridley, lost a flipper and had some severe cuts from fishing line entanglement. She was covered in barnacles, algae, worms and other marine organisms.



Grace Periera and her family brought the turtle to the Coast Guard Station in Pensacola on New Years Eve, where Jennifer and I picked her up for evaluation and care. Gracie is now doing very well -- she's swimming eight hours a day in a heated pool, diving and resting a lot. The staff at the Gulfarium removed her barnacle load (it can slow down a turtle!) so her carapace is clean and clear. So far, she's refusing to eat and is about ten pounds underweight for a Kemp's of her size. We're hoping she'll be released and continue nesting for many more years.



The people at the Gulfarium are wonderful! They always willingly take on any injured sea turtle or dolphin we rescue from the park or Pensacola Beach. What a fantastic resource! This lovely loggerhead is another animal they're caring for after a boat strike damaged her carapace. As a permanently disabled turtle, she'll be a permanent resident at the Gulfarium. They deserve all of our support for the great work they do!

Coast Guard and the Kemp's Ridley

Jennifer and I got called in to work last night about 5:30 -- the coast guard in Pensacola had an injured Kemp's Ridley sea turtle at their station. Given the holiday, no marine aquarium staff were around and the stranding team didn't want to respond, so Jennifer and I ran over to pick up the turtle and nurse it through the night.



After we finished bandaging her front flippers to try to slow the bleeding, we brought her back to the park. She spent the night in our shower, nestled in a harsh Coast Guard wool blanket. She must have been sick for awhile, given the amount of barnacles covering her carapace.



After a long night at the office, we drove her to Destin, Florida this morning. The staff at the Gulfarium were expecting her, but had no idea her injuries were so severe. I'm sure she'll do well under their care...

While we were there, we checked on the green turtle, Clover, we took to the Gulfarium in June. She has two dislocated hips and a broken pelvis, but they don't know if surgery will work at this point. It would be great to release her as we need more nesting greens on the beach, but she may never be able to dive and feed herself without the use of her rear flippers. She was so much chubbier than when we dropped her off, and her shell sparkled in the early morning light. It's great to see she's doing so well!

Another Stranding...

There was yet another stranding today. Sabrina Bowen came out from NOAA to help me. We did a pretty complete necropsy and reviewed some of our recent strandings. The one we had Saturday, the Dwarf Sperm Whale, was pregnant. How sad.



There's really not much to say; the red tide continues to take it's toll on the marine life in the area. The best we can do is learn as much as possible from each stranding.

It was great to spend time with someone who does this all the time -- I finally felt like I was really learning EXACTLY what we're supposed to do. Onward and upward!

Tangled Gull Anyone?

I spent most of the day today searching for a gull tangled in fishing line. Thankfully, I also had time to do a south shore bird survey and replace about 20 poles on the road, otherwise, my day would have seemed fruitless. I couldn't find the bird...

I did find this lovely tug and barge set up nosed onto the north shore, however. I wonder how they plan to get off later?

The Weekend has Arrived...

I was a little wrong about yesterday. We did spend a few hours on the boat, looking for hunters in the Santa Rosa area of the park. We had to pull the boat from the water a little early though as law enforcement called to let us know about a whale stranding on Pensacola Beach.

We're still not sure if it's a Pygmy or a Dwarf Sperm whale -- we're waiting on genetics from s skin sample. There were pleats in the lower jaw, typical of a dwarf spermwhale, but the dorsal fin didn't seem quite right. There weren't enough teeth still in the lower jaw to determine, and it's length fit both species, so all we know is that it's a Kogia spp.



There's a storm brewing today -- the skies are gray and cloudy, and there's a cold front moving in. Though it's only 10 degrees above freezing, we're supposed to have severe thunder storms today and tonight. It seems so surreal!

Happy Halloween!

It's been a very strange day here, and a strange few weeks. We're still getting lots of strandings, though now it's marine mammals and sea turtles -- I had one today at Perdido Key. I lost my keys in the sand, nearly got in an accident, got hit in the face with some high speed black flies (courtesy of added ATV forward motion), got chased by a brown pelican, and generally, had an eerie experience in places...

This is a sad photo -- I never put strandings on here, and that seems odd as I spend so much time on them lately. This turtle had no apparent injuries or anomalies -- likely, it was just a victim of the red tide. It's a respiratory irritant for them too. This loggerhead (Caretta caretta) was about the fifth turtle in ten days.



Yesterday, we had a live stranding of a snapping turtle on the north shore at Fort Pickens. His eye was injured, and he was in too salty a place to survive, but these are hardy critters, so we just moved it to a brackish marsh near the old fort. Our fingers were the major concern -- these turtles will snap one off if you place a hand too close to it's jaws!



A great blue heron on the north shore of Perdido today had nothing better to do than pose for the camera, so I got a few good pics. They do seem to pose professionally at times.



Otherwise, life isn't very Halloweeny today...

It's Raining Sunlight

It didn't rain today, though fall arrived overnight. Temperatures dropped thirty degrees, and the high was in the 50s. Anyone who saw me on the beach must have thought I was nuts in my sweatshirt, three raincoats and borrowed winter jacket. I don't do cold well... I can take a desert in the summertime, but anything below 80 really chills my bones. Even the sky looks cold.


The red tide is still apparent, but very much lessened. I could see and breathe on the beach after six hours, though I was a little numb from the cold. There have been no new dead fish today, and only one dead dolphin yesterday. That's bound to happen for a while still as the effects make their way up the food chain. It just breaks my heart every time I have to necropsy a dead marine mammal or sea turtle. My one consolation is knowing that the person assessing them, me, is someone who really cares about the sea and the health of the animals in it.



The birds were out in full force -- it was a great day to be back on the beach, as long as you're dressed for the face-numbing north wind. Even the sanderlings were huddled together for warmth. Any venturing out on their own for a little food were fluffed up and bent over like hunchbacks, bracing against the breeze. Taking field notes with unfeeling fingers was difficult -- it's a good thing no one reads my notebook but me!


It seems odd to have autumn without the leaves changing and falling to the ground. The palm fronds simply bow to the north wind, the birds huddle for warmth and the sand and wind whip along the bay, but that's all that announces the arrival of a new season. Fall doesn't last long here in the deep south, but it's a welcome change from the red tide weather of last week!

No New Dead Fish!!!

How sad is that for a blog title? It's the highlight of my week though -- it was sunny and gorgeous in west Florida, and there were no new red tide casualties. Yes, I had to necropsy the Fort Pickens dolphin, but otherwise, life was good! It almost feels like fall, or what passes for fall in the sunshine state.

My writing has been so morbid lately that I feel kind of guilty. It was such a strange week. To top it off, yesterday we lost the Fort Pickens generator to a lightning strike and the computers and phones are still not functional at HQ and the fire cache. The Park has returned to earlier days without internet or telephone. It's been rather nice! Email on Tuesday might be scary though...

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 :(