A US government workshop was held in late August to discuss options for intervention on behalf of the bottlenose dolphins in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, once a project designed to restore coastal wetlands in the Gulf of Mexico begins operations in a few years. (See AWI Quarterly, spring 2023.) Over five decades, sediment-rich Mississippi River water will be diverted into the bay to rebuild land. Doing so, however, will also drastically lower the bay’s salinity, which in turn will harm the 2,000 local dolphins, who will eventually sicken and die as their marine home turns fresh.
The workshop brought together experts, including AWI’s Dr. Naomi Rose, to consider potential mitigation measures. Unfortunately, this diversion project leaves little anyone can do to save these dolphins’ lives. Barataria Bay is their home, and they are unlikely to leave on their own or survive any attempt at relocation to saltier water. As the project takes its inexorable toll on their habitat and health, the only humane option left in the end may be to euthanize suffering individuals.