Red Tide, the silent killer

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http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index.php?smp=&lang=eng


Red tide could be becoming a silent killer along the Emerald Coast. On Thursday, Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge officials responded to a call about a dead sea turtle, a dead dolphin and eight struggling birds. “This is supposed to be my slow time,” said Amanda Wilkerson, the refuge’s executive director said. With October not being an animal breeding or tourist month, things are typically quiet for Wilkerson. But on Thursday, refuge officials began their day by responding to a call about a dead turtle. The large female loggerhead turtle was found dead in the surf behind Jade East Condominiums in Destin. Volunteer Chuck Lawson arrived on the scene Tuesday to find about a dozen beachgoers gawking, poking and taking pictures with the dead female turtle. Because the sea turtles are an endangered species, he advised them it is illegal to disturb the animal. Witnesses told Lawson that the turtle was spotted struggling in the surf Monday. No one, however, called the refuge until after the creature was dead Tuesday. “This turtle might have been saved if we got to it the day before,” Wilkerson said.

The 100-pound creature had no apparent signs of trauma and Wilkerson didn’t want to speculate on its cause of death but said that red tide remains in the region even after heavy winds and rains. A few hours after finding the turtle, wildlife officials reported to the scene of a dead dolphin found under the docks behind Cafe Italia in Fort Walton Beach. The female dolphin was under five years old, and had been dead 24 hours. After a necropsy, officials determined that it had lung abnormalities and “its stomach was extremely filled with fish.” Both could be indications of a red-tide-related death. Tests were sent off to federal officials to determine the animals’ exact cause of death but that could take weeks or months. The facility also took in eight birds Thursday that were “showing signs of possible red tide.”)
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