NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The results of a federal study into possible links between BP's catastrophic 2010 oil spill and a spate of dolphin deaths since the spill is set to be released Wednesday.
The study is part of a wide-ranging assessment of ecological damage caused by the spill.
Federal scientists have indicated that they believe there is a connection between petroleum contamination and the high number of dolphin deaths.
BP has rejected that contention and said necropsies of dolphins and "other information reveal there is no evidence" to make the link between the spill and dolphin deaths.
Common bottlenose dolphins have been dying at a record rate in northern parts of the Gulf of Mexico since the BP spill, according to NOAA and other scientists who have published studies on the figures.
– by AP Reporter Cain Burdeau
