{"id":262535,"date":"2026-05-07T21:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T21:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/262535\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T21:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T21:06:08","slug":"red-tide-eyed-as-leading-cause-of-florida-dolphin-mortality-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/262535\/","title":{"rendered":"Red tide eyed as leading cause of Florida dolphin mortality event"},"content":{"rendered":"

Red tide eyed as leading cause of Florida dolphin mortality event<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"WESH<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tUpdated: 4:38 PM EDT May 7, 2026\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\tEditorial Standards \u24d8<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAfter the recent deaths of more than two dozen bottlenose dolphins in the Florida Panhandle, tissue samples suggest red tide has been the leading cause, according to the Florida Panhandle Marine Institute. The nonprofit rescue and rehabilitation organization shared those findings Thursday on social media. A total of 25 dolphins died in March after becoming stranded from Gulf to Okaloosa counties, the post states, adding that while the majority had decomposed to the point that a proper necropsy could not be completed, six of the seven compatible samples tested positive for brevetoxin, or red tide. “Tests for known bacterial and viral infections that commonly impact dolphins in the northern Gulf were also conducted, including Brucella, Cetacean Morbillivirus, and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, and all samples analyzed were negative. We are still awaiting the results from histopathology (tissues sectioned and examined by an expert under a microscope), to conclude our investigation into this mortality event. However, at this time our leading hypothesis is that it was caused by brevetoxin, or red tide,” the post states.>> Video below: Dead dolphins wash ashore on Florida’s coastThe institute asks anyone who encounters a stranded, sick, or injured marine mammal or sea turtle to call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission by dialing *FWC or 1-888-404-3922, or the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Region hotline at 1-877-942-5343.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tBAY COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

After the recent deaths of more than two dozen bottlenose dolphins in the Florida Panhandle<\/a>, tissue samples suggest red tide has been the leading cause, according to the Florida Panhandle Marine Institute. <\/p>\n

The nonprofit rescue and rehabilitation organization shared those findings Thursday on social media<\/a>. <\/p>\n

A total of 25 dolphins died in March after becoming stranded from Gulf to Okaloosa counties, the post states, adding that while the majority had decomposed to the point that a proper necropsy could not be completed, six of the seven compatible samples tested positive for brevetoxin, or red tide. <\/p>\n

“Tests for known bacterial and viral infections that commonly impact dolphins in the northern Gulf were also conducted, including Brucella, Cetacean Morbillivirus, and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, and all samples analyzed were negative. We are still awaiting the results from histopathology (tissues sectioned and examined by an expert under a microscope), to conclude our investigation into this mortality event. However, at this time our leading hypothesis is that it was caused by brevetoxin, or red tide,” the post states.<\/p>\n

>> Video below: Dead dolphins wash ashore on Florida’s coast<\/p>\n

The institute asks anyone who encounters a stranded, sick, or injured marine mammal or sea turtle to call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission by dialing *FWC or 1-888-404-3922, or the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Region hotline at 1-877-942-5343.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red tide eyed as leading cause of Florida dolphin mortality event Updated: 4:38 PM EDT May 7, 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[113274,33204,113279,113275,23664,113277,28,113271,30,29,12205,514,113276,113273,11245,113278,21275,113272],"class_list":["post-262535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-brevetoxin","tag-cause","tag-cetacean-morbillivirus","tag-compatible-sample","tag-dolphin","tag-finding-thursday","tag-florida","tag-florida-dolphin-mortality-event","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-florida-panhandle","tag-gulf","tag-histopathology","tag-post-state","tag-red-tide","tag-rehabilitation-organization","tag-social-medium","tag-tissue-sample"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}