Three dolphins were found dead off the New Jersey shore last week under mysterious circumstances, local authorities said.
An adult male dolphin was found in Woodbridge on June 23, while a female bottlenose dolphin was found in Wildwood, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center reported.
Later, on the 24th, a rare Risso’s dolphin, a male adolescent, was found by authorities stranded moments before dying in Seaside Park, the center added.
The Wildwood dolphin was discovered alive, but died before rescuers from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center arrived.
Authorities said the Woodbridge dolphin was also stranded alive, but later died on shore, the New York Post reported.
Meanwhile, Risso’s dolphin had to be euthanized due to poor body condition, the center said, adding that Risso’s dolphins are commonly found in deeper waters.
“It is not unusual. The old, the sick and the wounded are washed and so it is. We still don’t know the answer,” the center’s director, Sheila Dean, told The Post.
The autopsies of the three are pending, the center said.
So far in 2023, 43 dolphins have been stranded on the coast this year, several of which had parasitic infections.
A pod of eight dolphins died in March after stranding on a Sea Isle City beach. Two of them died on the beach, and another six had to be sacrificed.
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