101 



Stranding* 



population of bottlenose dolphin may have 

 died from causes related to a natural 

 marine biotoxin. Increased strandings also 

 occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 1989-90 

 for unknown reasons. Fourteen humpback 

 whales also apparently died of a "red tide" 

 toxin near Cape Cod in late 1987, and 

 seven other young humpbacks stranded 



and died for unknown reasons. 



Some 350 harbor seals died from pho- 

 cine influenza-A virus in 1980. Although 

 the population has since recovered, these 

 east coast harbor seals may be as vulner- 

 able to viral disease as were the harbor 

 seals that died by the thousands in north- 

 ern European waters in recent years. 



