PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. -- We now know for sure red tide is what killed at least 10 dolphins out of the 17 that Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota tested. The lab is still waiting for results on the others.
Now that red tide is in Pinellas County, scientists are closely watching to see if it affects dolphins in the county.
Dr. Ann Weaver has been researching the bottlenose dolphin population in the area for more than a decade. She invited 10News onto her research boat to survey the dolphins and see whether red tide is impacting them.
“It’s just another nail in the coffin of an already stressed community,” Weaver said.
She has documented a decline in the dolphin population since 2005, while the John’s Pass bridge was being built.
“And it’s not reversing itself quite as fast as we would’ve liked,” she explained.
Red tide has the potential to slow down the rebuilding of the population, even more, she said. She pointed out that dolphins don’t know any better to avoid areas hit by red tide, and they usually don’t show signs of distress until it’s too later.
“All wild animals are designed to hide vulnerability,” she said. “Dolphins are no different.”
Fortunately, on our trip with Weaver, she didn’t see any noticeable signs of distress in the dolphins despite the presence of floating fish killed by red tide.
“Hopefully, it’ll back down before there’s any impact.”
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