6 Dead Dolphins Wash Ashore; Oil's Role Unclear

Federal wildlife officials are treating the deaths of six dolphins on the Gulf Coast as oil-related even though other factors may be to blame.

Blair Mase of the National Marine Fisheries Service said Tuesday that the carcasses have all been found in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama since May 2. Samples have been sent for testing to see whether a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico helped kill the dolphins.

Special Section: Gulf Coast Oil Disaster

Mase and animal rescue coordinator Michele Kelley in Louisiana said none of the carcasses has obvious signs of oil. Mase also said it's common for dead dolphins to wash up this time of year when they are in shallow waters to calve.

The Associated Press found dolphins swimming and playing in oily waters off Louisiana last week.

[mountainstates1]

BP rot in hell! Don't think people will forget! I'd love to the CEO of that wretched company knee deep in oil, wiping up the beach with his ugly bare hands.....

[USMC-Mom]

I am not getting my gas from BP stations or stations with the little BNP sticker on the pumps

[andre villemaire]

I would love to see someone get a hold of these BP executives and
dip them in oil....then take a picture. I would gladly pay for one
of those pictures...then the money raised could be fowarded to help
with the cleanup....

[cvanoff]

Dip them in oil, then roll them in some really itchy feathers...

[USMC-Mom]

What a mess all the way around. It was only a matter of time before this happend.
I wish BP would fry

[extremophil]

Now you've done it, BP. You can kill shrimp, fish, and fauna....but when dolphins die then the gloves come off. You're in trouuuuuble!

[thesevenveils]

Put this in this in perspective: Dolphins breath air. Humans in the oil spill area, which is now greater than the size of New Jersey, wear respirators for protection. Nobody bothered to give them to dolphins.

[DaVicar8]

How do you know that the dolphins weren't offered respirators, and just turned them down becasue they were bulky, or didn't fit correctly?

[lmartink]

Perhaps BP couls spray all the fish, shrimp, and dolphons with dispersant...........

[Ordflyer]

Uhhhh....look at the picture. THEY ARE COATED IN OIL. I don't think it was too much exercise that killed them...

Thanks BP for trying to SAVE the oil rather than STOP THE LEAK!!!!

[I_am_me1953]

You can't tell cr@p from that photo. Having grown up on the coast, it is common for these mammals to die and wash up onto shore at this time of the year and that will continue to happen through early July, oil spill or not.

Get a grip, nothing lives forever. I am not discounting that the oil spill in the gulf didn't kill these animals, but it is not known for sure at this point. And, unless, you and everyone else is willing to give up their cars and start walking, bicycling, ar riding public transportation to work oil and accidents are a fact of life.

[start99]

Duhhhh!!!