Featured Image Credit: NOAA Fish Southeast
Following a mass false killer whale stranding on January 14th, officials released a statement regarding the current status of the cetacean carcasses.
NOAA Fish Southeast joined the Weather Channel in a Facebook Live post on January 18th to give their report:
According to Erin Fougeres, a marine mammal biologist PHD with NOAA, noted that the dolphins are typically found in deep water, so the stress of being out of the water, lack of food, the change in blood chemistry and muscle weight could have caused the deaths of the stranded dolphins. Fougeres also added that several environmental factors could also be at play.
While the 6 complete necropsy results from the ‘”sample carcasses” are still pending, the plan is to leave the nearly hundred carcasses in the shallow water of the Everglades National Park where they originally washed to shore. By leaving the cetaceans’ bodies it is believed that they will “fuel the food web” and return rich nutrients into the local ecosystem. Many scavengers rely on such carcasses like sharks, crabs and vultures.