About 1/3 Of Florida's Indian River Lagoon Dolphins Have Tumors - News-Journal

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Dolphins, like people, can be individually identified and Harbor Branch has created a photo catalogue of more than 1,000 lagoon dolphins since 1990. After noticing many funguses and skin problems among the dolphins, scientists began keeping track in 2000 and found about 65 percent of the stranded dolphins had skin lesions. Greg Bossart, a senior scientist at Harbor Branch, is nearing the end of a five-year study comparing dolphins in the lagoon to dolphins in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina. Working with 40 scientists from around the world, Bossart examined 180 dolphins.

Because Charleston Bay has two polluted Superfund sites, and the Indian River Lagoon has none, the assumption was the Charleston dolphins would be in the worst condition. Not so. About 21 percent of the Charleston dolphins were "definitely diseased," but a third in the lagoon were "definitely diseased." Bossart said they found another 23.5 percent of the lagoon dolphins were probably diseased while another 30 percent of the dolphins in Charleston were probably diseased.

The dolphins in the lagoon have a fungal disease of the skin usually associated with immune system suppression called lobomycosis. Found mostly in the southern lagoon, it has reached "almost epidemic proportions," Bossart said. That area, near the St. Lucie River, is under "extreme environmental pressure" from polluted discharges from Lake Okeechobee that create algae blooms and other problems.

Bossart also has seen an "alarming" increase in oral and genital tumors associated with a herpes virus. No viruses were found during the first year of the study. Three years later, 47 percent of the dolphins had the viruses. Similar cancerous diseases have shown up rather suddenly in dolphins around the world, and Bossart suspects the diseases may be a sign of an environmental distress syndrome related to human-caused ecological changes.

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http://www.news-journalonline.com/special/natural/dolphinsindanger.htm