May 25, 2013
Officials are awaiting test results to see if the deaths of Nemo and Ripley are related to the deaths of 77 dolphins that have washed ashore in the past two weeks.
Nemo was a 13-month-old dolphin who was adopted by Gulf World after he was found stranded on a Georgia beach last May. He died Saturday. Ripley, an 11-month-old female born at the park, died Wednesday.
Both dolphins were in good health before showing symptoms about a week ago. That's according to Gulf World co-owner Ron Hardy.
They were experiencing twitches and Ripley was having trouble making squealing sounds.
Hardy says results from tissue samples expected within the next few weeks should indicate whether the cause of Nemo's and Ripley's deaths is related to the dolphin deaths in the Gulf of Mexico.
Preliminary test results indicate the deaths of the other dolphins may have been caused by biotoxin released by naturally occurring algae.
