Perilous
Times
Mississippi: Experts baffled by hundreds of mysterious sea
turtle deaths
March 26, 2012 — Hundreds of dead sea turtles have washed up on
the beaches of Gulfport, Mississippi in recent weeks.
A recent rash of sea turtle deaths on the beaches of Gulfport,
Mississippi has left local marine experts baffled and concerned.
Moby Solangi, Director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies
(IMMS), believes the deaths could be the result of several
factors.
"You can't rule anything out, but there are a number of things we
have to look at," he says.
Sea turtles are extremely sensitive to water temperatures, and
unseasonably warm weather may have prompted the turtles to return
to the region sooner than they should have.
The IMMS team has been hard at work searching for answers. Solangi
says the institute will continue to monitor the numbers, which
could drop again. He said they won't know how much damage is done
until later in the summer.