Federal practices hamper study of Gulf dolphin deaths

[Earth_First]

(Reuters) - A federal agency's practice of returning weakened dolphins to deeper Gulf of Mexico waters is thwarting efforts to probe dolphin deaths after last year's BP oil spill, scientists said on Saturday.

Researchers said weakened and stranded dolphins should instead be rescued and tested.

Moby Solangi, director for the Institute of Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi, said returning the dolphins to deeper waters also was undermining efforts to determine who is responsible for the rash of sea animal deaths in Gulf waters.

"We are not able to conduct necropsies on these animals any more either," Solangi said. "This is all because of the BP criminal investigation."

Fifteen of the 406 dolphins that have washed ashore in the last 14 months had oil on their bodies, the oceanographic administration has said.

More: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/16/us-dolphin-strandings-idUSTRE73F2XW20110416