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Showing posts with the label spinner dolphins

WHY SPINNER DOLPHINS STRANDED IN SAUDI ARABIA

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Lost Spinner Dolphins are casualties of Houthi militants During an incoming tide, 10 non-navigating spinner dolphins swim blindly into a shallow swimming area close to the town of Rabigh, Saudi Arabia.  Their echo-navigation system was rendered defective by a large explosive set off when Houthi militants attacked a Saudi warship with three small boats off the coast of Hodeida, Yemen 30 January 2017. (see more below) The Saudi rescue teams tried to get the deafened dolphins to swim back to deep water. But with their biosonar system not working, they could not swim into the incoming current. The drag forces in the water simply turned them around and pointed them into the path of least drag. All swimmers must have a sense of direction when they swim in a flowing current. If not, they will simply swim with the flow like a blind duck. After 4 days of effort, the rescuers loaded 10 non-navigating spinner dolphins into a vehicle and transported them to a different location where the

Scientists Blame Hurricane for Killing Dolphins in Florida Bay

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Spinner Dolphins Beach in Florida Bay An unusual scene unfolded in Florida Bay over the labor day weekend: Five spinner dolphins were found nearly lifeless on shallow mud flats, far from home.  All suffered from extreme dehydration and severe sunburn ( link ).  Two of the spinners were taken to Sea World in Orlando for additional treatment. One died Sunday and the second, known to be in critical condition, reportedly died Monday.  Three more spinner dolphins were found stranded in  Everglades National Park waters of Florida Bay on Monday.  Scientists at the scene told the press that Hurricane Hermine likely drove the spinners into the shallow bay ( link ). This was a dumb remark for a whale scientists. They know that dolphins have evolved for over 30 million years in a stormed-tossed oceans of the world. If healthy, they instinctively know to move far away from the path of a hurricane. You will never see a healthy dolphin near shore when a storm approaches. On the other hand,