NOTE Miller: Deaths of Tursiops truncatus in East Matagorda Bay 



793 



15 



• WATER TEMPERATURE 

 D AIR TEMPERATURE 



20 22 24 26 

 DECEMBER 1989 



30 



22 DEC 89: 

 Dolphins seen breaking ice 

 inEMB 



25 DEC 89: 



Ice cover begins to thaw 

 on EMB 



26 DEC 89: 



Collection of fish kill data 

 in EMB begins 



3 JAN 90: 

 At least three dolphins seen 

 following trawling boat in EMB 



20 JAN 90: 

 26 dead dolphins observed 



24/25 JAN 90: 

 Necropsies performed 



Figure 3 



Water and air temperatures at East Mata- 

 gorda Bay (EMB) during December 1989, 

 and chronology of significant events related 

 to January 1990 strandings of bottlenose 

 dolphins. Air temperatures recorded at Pala- 

 cios, Texas (the closest recording weather 

 station, 15 mi away), (from Naval Oceanogr. 

 Command Detachment. Asheville, NC). 

 Water-temperature data from Texas Parks 

 & Wildl. Dep., Fish. Div., Coastal Branch, 

 Palacios, TX. Water temperatures in East 

 Matagorda Bay for the dates 1, 15. and 29 

 January 1992 were 13.5, 16, and 14.5°C, 

 respectively. 



Two mature females (MF) and 

 a mature male (MM) had thick- 

 ened hepatic capsules. One MF 

 had marked lobulation and in- 

 creased fibrous tissue throughout 

 the liver. Five mature animals (2 MM, 3 MF) 

 had an unusual and unidentified thin, smooth 

 creamy-white layer on the endothelial surface 

 of the hepatic portal vessels. 



Three animals had abnormalities associated 

 with the gastrointestinal (GI) system. An im- 

 mature female (IF) had a section of small 



□ EMB DOLPHINS • TEXAS COAST DOLPHINS 

 30 



III INI I ll I 



I I I I I I I I I M I I 1 I I I I t I I I I ! I II I I ( I I I 



50 



100 150 



WEIGHT (kg) 



200 250 



Figure 4 



Linear regression of blubber thickness and weight for 

 bottlenose dolphins recovered from East Matagorda 

 Bay, in January 1990, and for comparison group of 

 bottlenose dolphins from the Texas coast during 

 November-March 1981-89. 



