A report published last month found that an unusually high number of bottlenose dolphins have been dying all along the Gulf Coast since February 2010. This unusual mortality event, or UME, began two months before the 2010 BP oil spill, but groups including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say the spill is responsible for the continued die-off of this species.
BP says this can’t be proved, and that the spill is not the cause. The issue was covered nationally this week in the New York Times. Here, Gulf Restoration Network Executive Director Cynthia Sarthou discusses the oil spill's possible connection to this ongoing event, starting with just what exactly a UME is.
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