Baby dolphin washes up near Weeks Bay (Alabama, USA)

This baby dolphin was found washed up on the Eastern shore of Mobile Bay on Thursday. It was 33 inches long, suggesting it was born recently. Young dolphin are particularly vulnerable to cold and other environmental factors. (courtesy of Biff Hamel)

January 28, 2013 (Ben Raines). A baby female dolphin was found partially buried in the sand on the shore of Mobile Bay last week, about three miles north of Weeks Bay.

The animal, which was 33 inches long, was one of 7 found in the northern Gulf this month. That’s about in line with historical averages for dolphin strandings in January.

Scientists are still studying an “unusual mortality event” in the Gulf, which began in February of 2010, a few months before the BP oil spill. Since 2010, 831 dolphins and whales have been found dead in the Gulf, or washed up on shore.

Fewer animals were found Gulfwide in 2012, but the total was still elevated compared to historical averages. So far, 2013 looks a little better.

Despite the animal found in Weeks Bay, Alabama has reported fewer dead dolphins than normal this year.

“We don’t have a cause of death, but I can tell you this is the typical season for getting the small animals. So there is nothing surprising about it,” said Ruth Carmichael, with the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

“It’s been a pretty warm winter, and we’ve actually had a much lower number of strandings this winter. We’re in the area where we’d expect to be,” Carmichael said.

 She said federal scientists were still searching for the cause of the “unusual mortality event.”

March is typically the worst month when it comes to finding dead dolphins. Scientists attribute the increase in mortality to stresses associated with the calving season. The newborn dolphins are particularly vulnerable, as are mothers who have recently given birth. In a typical year, between 15 and 20 dolphins will be found dead in March. More than sixty were found in March of 2010, and more than 70 in March of 2011.

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