Researchers: BP oil spill may have contributed to Gulf of Mexico dolphin deaths - St. Petersburg Times

Researchers: BP oil spill may have contributed to Gulf of Mexico dolphin deaths - St. Petersburg Times: Five of the more than 500 dolphins that have washed ashore dead along the gulf coast from Florida to Texas over the past two years died from a bacterial infection called Brucella, federal scientists announced Thursday.

And last year's Deepwater Horizon oil spill may have played a role, they said.

"The working hypothesis is that the oil negatively impacted the dolphins' immune system," said Teri Rowles, coordinator of the National Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program. "It could have impaired the dolphins' ability to respond to the bacterial infection."