01 January 2013, Washington – A new study has revealed that BP gulf oil spill is still influencing dolphin mortality, prognosis and reproductive health.
Scientists caught dolphins in Barataria Bay (BB), Louisiana, and a site thought to be uncontaminated, and found that forty-eight per cent dolphins were given a guarded or worse prognosis, and 17 per cent were given poor or grave prognosis, indicating that the marine mammals were not expected to survive, according to Examiner.com.
The report said that the disease’s severity, poor body condition, and high occurrence of abnormalities seen in BB dolphins is in stark contrast with the overall health status of dolphins from the SB [uncontaminated ] reference site.
According to BP, who paid for the study, there is no evidence about their oil played a role in the poor health of the Dolphins living in the oil-contaminated environment.
The study has been published in Environmental Science and Technology.
*ANI
