On March 26, 2021 a phosphate mine and fertilizer plant that’s been shut down since 2001 began leaking. Piney Point is one of more than two dozen such sites in the state, nine of which are still active, that have stacks of phosphogypsum, a toxic and radioactive byproduct of the production process.
Efforts to contain the leak were unsuccessful, and on April 3, Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency and more than 300 homes were evacuated, and authorities pumped approximately 215 million gallons of polluted wastewater into Tampa Bay to reduce pressure on the containment structure.
Marine researchers of all kinds began studying the ecological impact caused by the pollution release, including those with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, which was asked by the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration to expand its monitoring efforts to include the dolphin population near Piney Point.
While that research work is still in its infancy, we're checking in with Dr. Randy Wells. He is director of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, which is the world's longest-running study of a dolphin population. They’ve been monitoring the dolphin population in and around Sarasota Bay since 1970. It's part of the Chicago Zoological Society and based at Mote Marine Laboratory.
You can hear our conversation with Dr. Wells when the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program celebrated its 50th anniversary here.
