Ebola of the sea? Dolphins still dying off coast

Dolphins, their numbers impacted last year from a nasty virus that rivals the death rate of Ebola in West Africa, are still dying along the Atlantic coast, researchers have found.

The massive die-off of at least 1,550 bottlenose dolphins in the region since July 2013 is ongoing in some states south of New Jersey, according to a federal expert. They include Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

"We know the virus is still present," but dolphin stranding rates are still dropping, said Deborah Fauquier, senior scientist in the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program in NOAA Fisheries, Silver Spring, Maryland. "We still are probably two or three months away" from determining whether the die-off is over.

The outbreak of morbillivirus, a measles-like virus that causes pneumonia, skin lesions and brain infections, has killed roughly twice as many bottlenose dolphins as the last big outbreak in 1987-88. In New Jersey, 151 bottlenose dolphins died last year — nearly 10 times this year's toll so far, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine.

One estimate puts the infection death rate at about 50 percent of those affected, about the same as the Ebola outbreak among people in some Western African nations.

The outbreak from New York through Florida's Brevard County has put a strain on marine mammal stranding budgets and staff.

As of late last month, about $1.8 million in federal dollars has been spent through NOAA Fisheries to respond to the "unusual mortality event," according to Kate Brogan, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spokeswoman. That's likely a conservative figure because it does not include money or in-kind donations that Marine Mammal Stranding Network partners and state or other federal agencies have contributed.

Stranded marine mammals include those that are: dead or alive on a beach, shore or in the water; unable to return to the water or their natural habitat; or appear to need medical attention, according to NOAA.

Robert C. Schoelkopf, founder and director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, said the latest epidemic was very costly for the center, resulting in probably $30,000 in extra spending.

The volume of stranded dolphins was so high that the center had to buy a new van, hire an extra staffer and shoulder increased gas and Garden State Parkway toll costs, he said.

The stranding center opened in 1978 and "it was the largest number of animals we ever had," he said.

Deadly virus

Fauquier said likely around 30,000 to 40,000 bottlenose dolphins live along the coast or in bays and estuaries from New York to northern Florida.

But since July 2013, all ages of bottlenose dolphins have been stranding. A few live animals have stranded, but most were found dead, in many cases quite decomposed. Many dolphins had lesions on their skin, mouth, joints or lungs, according to NOAA.

Morbillivirus is highly contagious, Fauquier said. It's spread through respiration (via blowholes) and direct contact. Experts think the virus may also be spread through skin contact, she said.

A guess is that it kills maybe half of infected animals, she said.

"It is clear we have missed some" dead dolphins that weren't found, but there are no estimates how many more may have died, she said.

In 1987-88, 742 bottlenose dolphins were confirmed dead from New Jersey to Florida and morbillivirus was deemed the main primary cause, according to a study published in 1994. But Fauquier said there was no stranding network at the time and the death toll could have been higher.

Based on testing to date, experts are confident that morbillivirus is the main cause of the 2013-14 die-off, she said. Ninety-five percent of dolphins tested have had the virus.

Still, "we don't have the full picture yet what other contributing factors might have made the animals more susceptible to the morbillivirus," she said.

A live bottlenose dolphin on Tobay Beach in Nassau County, New York.(Photo: Riverhead Foundation for Research and Preservation )

Lung worm can also cause pneumonia and some dolphins may have been too skinny or not robust enough. Even polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), banned industrial chemicals, can be an issue, according to Fauquier. But PCB tests have yet to be done.

New Jersey outbreak over?

Schoelkopf, of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, said dolphin and seal strandings were light in New Jersey this year.

A total of 143 animals, including 16 bottlenose dolphins and 45 seals (39 alive), were found stranded as of Nov. 5, according to center data. That's about half last year's toll of 292 animals, including 151 bottlenose dolphins and 42 seals (33 alive).

Schoelkopf said "the whole year has been pretty good compared withlast year. We haven't had too much going on."

While the bottlenose death toll has been much higher during the 2013-14 outbreak than in 1987-88, "the federal government responded a lot faster than they did in '87," he said. "It took them quite a while to see that there was a problem going on" back then.

The current "epidemic didn't end," he said. "It just ended for New Jersey and it continued to the south, continued in Florida."