Sharp discovers key to preventing dolphin strandings may be in blood
Scientists did not always know how dolphins came to be stranded, but a new study shows that clues about survival rates after release may be found in the marine mammal's blood.
Published in Marine Mammal Science, the study looked at the blood work of common dolphins and compared it to their survival rates after release - a relatively easy and simple method of determining which dolphins are tough enough to survive on their own.
"The establishment of these blood values provides a window into the overall health of the dolphin and, for responders onsite, collecting blood in the field is relatively easy to do," the paper's lead author Sarah Sharp, of Tufts University, said in a statement. "Now we have a way to predict which stranded dolphins have a better chance of survival after release and this can help triage care."
