Message from biologist,
Monica Ross, regarding Xena's death:
I am very sorry to report Xena's carcass was
recovered near Ft. Myers beach yesterday by FWC SW field staff. This
area has had an abnormally high mortality rate over the past week with red
tide as the suspected cause. At this time, we do not know the cause
of her death but I will keep you informed of the necropsy results once
notification is received.
Xena used Matlacha Isles throughout the
winter of 2005/2006. She was noted moving in/out of these canals to
feeding areas on a routine basis which mimicked wild population use of
this site. Thus, she was usually in close association with other animals
during our observations. Our last sonic location of Xena in Matlacha
Isles was on 2/19/07. The last sighting we received of her location
was in the Ft. Myers beach area on 2/26/07 reported to FWC by the public.
Follow up information
post-necropsy:
Katie
Brill from FWC just informed me that Xena was 244 cm in length and
weighed 313.5 kg or 690 lbs at the time of necropsy. The current findings
for mortality was Natural/Other with no apparent clinical signs of
red tide that are normally seen by necropsy. There is a
possibility there is a different kind of red tide effecting the animals
in the Ft. Myers area thus producing different clinical signs than
previously seen before. Samples were obtained and sent out for ELISA.