Several dead dolphins have been seen recently around Bayou La Loutre in the Hopedale area of St. Bernard Parish
Captain George Ricks says he's been fishing in the area all his life. "I've never seen these many dolphins dead," Ricks told WWL-TV.
Ricks said that about three miles out along a shoreline of Lake Coquille is where he and his crew found two dead dolphins floating along the surface this week.
"We've had 11 reported sightings within a 15 square mile range and that's very unusual," Ricks said.
He said he feels the amount of freshwater coming into the estuary are to blame.
Gabriella Vazquez is the Rescue and Rehab Coordinator for the Coastal Wildlife Network -- the only rehab program in the state which responds to stranded animals.
“As far as the freshwater goes, freshwater legions, it does happen when we see an uptick of freshwater in an area. That is something we are actually keeping our eye on with the opening of the spillway and all that. We are a little bit more on alert for any of those lesions that may be popping up on our dolphins,” Vazquez said.
The Army Corps of Engineers recently opened and then closed the Bonnet Carre Spillway to lower the risk of flooding in New Orleans. It's unclear if that opening was a factor in the reports of dead dolphins.
Officials with the Coastal Wildlife Network said they do tend to see an uptick in dolphin strandings during the spring, in part because there are general more people out on the water to see them.
Whatever caused the recent sightings of dead animals, Ricks said it's affecting the lives of dolphins and a way of life that's unique to Louisiana.