They are a Florida icon.
Smart, agile, and playful, dolphins have sparked
the imaginations of many, and their undersea
world might be linked with ours more than
we know.
We look at the Bottlenose dolphins as very
good sentinels of the health of the coastal
ecosystem.
Dolphins are a barometer; they re an apex
predator in an environment that we all share.
They re breathing the same air that we breathe.
They re swimming through the same water
in which we swim.
They re eating the same fish that we catch.
And granted, we re not in the water as much
as they are and we re not eating as many
of the fish, but if problems were going to
show up, we would expect them to show up in
the dolphins first.
For decades, toxic chemicals have made their
way into the oceans, leaving fish and marine
mammals vulnerable.
Dolphins that have washed up in various places,
including in the southeastern United States,
they have to be treated as toxic waste.
The levels of contaminants are so high.
Some animals show disturbing signs of immune
system dysfunction and disease, which may
be linked to contaminant exposure.
They re kind of like the 400 lb miner s
canary.
Um, these animals are telling us what s
happening.
We ve used the oceans as our toilet for
centuries, and now I think we re starting
to see the effects of that through all these
new health issues that are coming up.
So if these dolphins here on our coastlines,
these apex predators, they re getting sick,
well who s next?
It s the humans.