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Mercury fears with dead dolphins
By Rebecca DiGirolamo
The Australian
27th January 2004
Record levels of mercury have been found in dozens of dead dolphins recovered from South Australia's Spencer and St Vincent gulfs.
Toxicology research on 114 bottlenose dolphins by Adelaide University student Nicole Butterfield has found the mercury level of one dolphin to be four times higher than Australia's previous worst case.
The dolphin contained 1900mg of mercury per kilogram and was retrieved near Point Riley, on the Spencer Gulf and just south of the industrial town of Port Pirie. The source of the mercury remains unclear and no direct link between the dolphin deaths and mercury has yet been established.
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