Science | bottlenose dolphin Baby Dolphin Die-Off in Gulf Grows Officials say it's too soon to blame the oil spill By Kevin Spak Posted Mar 3, 2011 12:56 PM CST Copied Institute for Marine Mammal Studies veterinary technician Wendy Hatchett lifts a dead bottlenose dolphin that was found on Ono Island, Ala., Feb. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) More and more young bottlenose dolphins are turning up dead in the Gulf, and scientists aren’t entirely sure why. The number of dead dolphins has swelled to 80, according to National Geographic, with about half of them being calves. Speculation is running rampant that the deaths are connected to the BP oil spill. “Everybody wants to jump to that conclusion,” says one NOAA official, “but at this point in time, it’s too early to tell.” Scientists think some of the calves may have actually been premature stillbirths, because dolphins typically give birth around March or April. “That’s one part of the investigation that we’re going to be looking at very carefully,” the official said. “We’ll methodically score each animal … to determine if, in fact, it was an aborted calf.” Read These Next RFK Jr. suggests antidepressants to blame after shooting. Isolated tribe members show up in an unexpected place. Details trickle out on 2 more victims of the Minneapolis shooting. Trump just used a spending maneuver last seen nearly 50 years ago. Report an error