Toxics likely killed dolphin

Andrew Edwards

A young dolphin that died in Newport Harbor last year had poisons in

its blubber, liver and brain, examination of the creature has

revealed.

“It had this toxic brew of chemicals permeating its entire body,”

Orange Coast College marine science professor Dennis Kelly said.

Kelly believes the animal was likely poisoned by contaminants it

consumed in Newport Harbor.

“My hypothesis is right now that this animal’s taking up residence

in Newport Bay ended up killing it,” Kelly said.

The dolphin was found dead in December on Lido Island and a

necropsy, an autopsy for an animal, was performed that month at

Orange Coast College. The dolphin’s tissues were analyzed at CRG

Marine Laboratories in Torrance.

Kelly said test results showed the 2- to 3-year-old dolphin had

levels of DDE, tributyltin, PCBs and mercury in its body.

DDE is a toxic compound that forms when DDT, a banned pesticide,

breaks down. Scientists found DDE in the animal’s blubber, at a

concentration of 78 parts per billion.

“That’s enough to cause an animal real trouble,” Kelly said. “It

can crash their immune systems; it can cause them to produce hormones

that don’t work correctly.”

Tributyltin, a toxic substance in boat paints, was discovered in

the dolphin’s liver and blubber, Kelly said. PCBs are chemicals that

were used as fire retardants until they were banned by the federal

government in 1976. Mercury was found in the dolphin’s liver and

brain.

Kelly said the dolphin’s death illustrates a need for tighter

controls on urban runoff. He believes the contamination ingested by

the dolphin came not only from pollutants directly deposited into the

harbor but also frominland watersheds.

“We really need to stop our runoff from running directly into the

ocean,” Kelly said.

Water discharges into Newport Bay are under the authority of the

Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Board.

The agency’s water pollution controls include storm water

diversions and the use of wetlands to naturally treat water, but

extensive processes, such as sewage treatment, do not happen with

runoff, said environmental program manager Joanne Schneider.

In 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency set limits on the

amount of pollutants the water board could allow in Newport Harbor.

The water board will likely release a draft plan on how to implement

those limits next month, Schneider said.

Defend the Bay, a Newport Beach environmental group, is seeking

money to fund its own study on how to limit pollution in the Back Bay

and the harbor, group founder Bob Caustin said.

He also said the poisons found in the dolphin serve as a warning

against fishing around Newport Beach.

“Don’t eat the local fish,” Caustin said.

Last year, the Orange County Health Care Agency released a study

indicating five local fish species -- California corbina, jacksmelt,

yellowfin croaker, spotted sand bass and California halibut -- could

be contaminated.

Corbina is the only species on that list the state’s Office of

Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has posted a warning for.

The agency recommends that fish be eaten only once every two

weeks.