© Roger JacobsenA dead dolphin is washed up on the beach south of Lowdermilk Park close to North Lake Drive in Naples on Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018.
As it has for been many species, 2018 was a terrible year for dolphins, which are still in what was declared an "unusual mortality event" by government agencies in August.
The region's unrelenting and remarkably virulent toxic red tide is thought to be to blame. Scientific confirmation of its lethal impact on dolphins, however, has been slow in coming
Though
more 127 dolphins have died in Southwest Florida during the event, there are only 16 definitive necropsy results, which speaks to the level of overwhelm, agencies say.
And it's entirely possible that more animals are dying than are being counted, said Kim Amendola, communications supervisor for National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries division, but now, with the federal government partially shut down since Saturday, NOAA's body counts aren't being updated.
Comment: Red tide suspected as 22 dead dolphins wash up on Collier, Lee beaches in Florida