Summary
About 20 dead sea turtles have mysteriously washed up on shore in Pinellas County in Florida, and divers have found that many bottom-living marine creatures, like crabs and starfish, have also turned up dead in the area offshore; the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating what caused the deaths.
Original source:
http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2005/8/10/112685.html
Details
About 20 dead sea turtles have washed ashore in Pinellas County in the past three days, an extremely high number that has doctors and scientists puzzled.
One of the two survivors that's being kept at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is a large, loggerhead turtle named Siratti Sam.
"I still don't know if he'll make it," said Dr. Janine Cianciolo.
still not in water because he's not keeping his head above water for long enough periods of time."
It's not clear why the various kinds of sea turtles are washing ashore.
"It may or may not be associated with red tide," said Cianciolo.
"They tend to show symptoms of what's called a red tide intoxication, but you have to take a lot of samples and they must go through testing to actually determine that."
"Right now, anywhere we go from shore to 20 miles offshore, from Sarasota to Tarpon Springs, we can't find a single creature alive on the bottom right now," said Miller.
"All the coral, all the sponges, all the crabs, not a single living thing, all the star fish, the brittle stars, everything's dead," said Miller.
Click here for an enlarged image of more dead sea life.
The sea turtles that died are being preserved with ice at the aquarium, where a necropsy will be performed in hopes it will provide some clues as to what's lurking in the waters of the gulf.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission scientists will ultimately decide whether red tide is causing the sea turtles to die.
If you see a dead or injured sea turtle, call the 24-hour stranded sea turtle hotline at 727-441-1790.
You'll be asked to leave a message with a phone number so rescuers can respond to the appropriate location.
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Sunday, August 21, 2005
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