SAVE THE DOLPHINS!

Xeon kissing Jenna!

I think dolphins are such beautiful, unique marine mammals.  I first grew fond of them 3 summers ago, when I went on a cruise to the Bahamas.  While on my trip I was blessed to get the chance to swim with dolphins on a little island called Free Port. The dolphin I got to swim with and get to know was named Xeon.  She was very friendly and loved to “show-off.”  My favorite part of this experience was actually getting to stroke Xeon and feel her slippery, water-repellent skin. Ending the session with a big, wet kiss by Xeon was the icing on the cake!  It was such a wonderful experience.

Since that trip, I have kept a special eye out for dolphins whenever I am near the water.  In fact, this summer I was a lifeguard at Buckroe Beach on the Chesapeake Bay in Hampton, Virginia (about 30 minutes away from VA Beach for those who aren’t familiar with southeast Virginia).  There I got to spend many, many long hours on stand at the beach gazing out into the expanse of water in front of me. As I sat guarding I would occasionally see dolphins out in the distance swim by in groups of about 5 or 7.  Since guarding can be fairly boring most days, whenever I could spot dolphins swimming by I would get extremely excited.  I found it to be really cool getting to see them travel by with the current.  They even did jumps and flips sometimes as they swam by. 

I vividly remember on the 4^th of July seeing a pack of about 10 dolphins swim by very close to the shore (only about 15 feet from a family out in the water)! I also remember being shocked that these dolphins would swim so close to land, let alone people!  It was soon after the holiday that beaches around our area began to find dolphins washed up on the shores dead. By the end of July/early August at Buckroe alone we had 3 dolphins wash up.  It was the saddest thing to see.  All the dolphins that died and washed up were taken up by Animal Control and tested.  Since leaving the beach on August 16^th I had not kept up with any further reasoning beyond the spike in deaths among dolphins.  As I was deciding what to write in my blog this week I was trying to think of experiences I have had in my own life that I could relate directly to epidemiology.  It was then I decided to follow up on any recent news regarding the dolphins dying in my area. 

Picture I took this summer of one of the dolphins that washed up at Buckroe Beach: 8/2/13

I did some research online and found an article by Christine Dell'Amore in the National Geographic News that was written in response to the alarming number of dolphin deaths on the east coast this summer.  The article was written on August 7, 2013 by Dell’Amore where she describes possible causes for this catastrophe.  No one reason has been linked to these deaths. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Services is working hard to find the exact cause.  They have tested several dolphins, including one that washed up in Norfolk, VA.  This dolphin and several others tested positive for a fetal (fatal?) airborne virus in dolphins called morbillivirus, which is a similar to the measles.  According to the article, there was a morbillivirus epidemic that affected the east coast marine life in 1987 and 1988 and killed over 900 animals; especially migratory dolphins.   Scientists wonder if this epidemic will be as catastrophic as the one in the 80s.  I found it very interesting in article that they described the steps that NOAA is taking to find the cause of these deaths—one of epidemiologist’s main jobs! I also found it interesting that they are trying to track down which areas had more deaths then others along the coast.  The more I read into the article, the more I realized just how perfectly this article relates to epidemiology.  To say the least, this class shed a whole new light on how I view diseases and how they can spread. 

 

On a more serious note, though, I hope NOAA or some other organization is able to find the exact cause of all these deaths soon or can find a cure for this horrible disease.  I love dolphins and hate to see them dying at such a rapid rate… Save the dolphins!!