It Was A Mother Dolphin And Her Baby That Died In Middletown Last Week

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Last Wednesday evening, March 15, we reported a dead dolphin washed ashore at Leonardo marina in Middletown.

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center has now released more information about the dead dolphin, which was actually a baby dolphin. It was with its mother, which had already died and was floating in the tide about 150 feet out, according to the volunteer group.

The baby dolphin was very weak and it could not survive without its mother; it had to be euthanized, said Sheila Dean, Marine Mammal Stranding Center director.

Since February, this is now a total of seven dolphins that have died and beached themselves along the Jersey Shore. But Dean said that number does not strike her as "unusual." She has been retrieving the carcasses of dead whales, seals and dolphins along the Jersey Shore for nearly the past 30 years.

Note: Just one day after this article was published, eight more Common dolphins beached themselves in Sea Isle City: 'Mass Stranding Event' Of Dolphins Seen At Jersey Shore (March 21)

"These are Common dolphins; they have beached themselves before," she said Monday in a phone call from her Brigantine office. "One past winter we had many that beached. The most common issue with Common dolphins is they have brain parasites."

Still, no cause of death has been determined yet, for any of the seven dolphins.

The state lab in Trenton had no space to take the mother dolphin, so her body was buried on the beach in Leonardo last week. The baby was accepted by the state lab (because its body is smaller) and a necropsy is pending. However, the state lab that examines the bodies of dead animals is so backed up that Dean said Monday her group is actually now looking for places with large freezers that can store future dolphin carcasses — assuming more continue wash up. She said there are also a lot of dead farm animals and various strains of avian flu going around.

There is currently heated debate underway about whether offshore wind turbine construction could be causing the increased whale/dolphin deaths, or whether it's from increased boat traffic and vessel strikes, or something entirely unrelated.

It's now 15 beached dolphins in New Jersey since February:

• On Feb. 27, a dead dolphin washed ashore in Avalon.
• On Feb. 22, a dead dolphin washed up on the banks of the Shrewsbury River at Hartshorne Woods in Middletown. Witnesses saw more dolphins "struggling" in the water, but they did not wash ashore.
• On Feb. 18, three dying dolphins washed ashore on the bayside of Sandy Hook national park and died in the surf. Their carcasses were sent to a state lab and their ears in particular will be examined by an outside lab for any signs of damage. Those lab results are still not back as of Monday, said Dean.
• On March 15, the mother and baby died at Leonardo marina in Middletown.
• March 21: Eight Common dolphins stranded at Sea Isle City, two have died

What exactly happened last Wednesday in Leonardo

The Marine Mamma Stranding Center said they received a call Wednesday afternoon from someone at Naval Weapons Station Earle for two stranded dolphins in Sandy Hook Bay near the military base pier.

Two Common dolphins, an adult and calf, were located approximately 150 feet out in the bay on a sandbar.

The adult mother was deceased, and its body was in the process of being lifted and pulled out by the incoming tide.

With help from Earle employees, Marine Mammal Stranding Center staff and volunteers were able to retrieve the baby from the water and pull it ashore. The baby dolphin was taken to the Stranding Center's lab in Brigantine and examined by their in-house veterinarian.

"After a veterinary exam it was determined that the young dolphin was in an extremely weakened condition and could not survive. The decision was made to humanely euthanize the animal to prevent any further suffering."

"We have tried to nurse baby dolphins before. It always ends in their death," said Dean bluntly. "First, they do not take a bottle. You have to put a feeding tube down their throat. They do not always take the food. Secondly, baby dolphins are by their mother's side constantly, for months. They simply are unable to be alone in the water at that age. So you have to have someone constantly in the water with the baby. Other places have tried it and when the person leaves at night to sleep, they come back and the baby dolphin is found dead at the bottom of the pool."

Yes, she said, her group has successfully nursed baby seals back to strength and released them back into the ocean. However:

"A dolphin is an entirely different animal. It is almost impossible to replicate that incredibly close bond a baby dolphin has with its mother," she said.

How was the baby dolphin euthanized?

"A dolphin is euthanized the same way a dog or cat is. They just give them a shot that relaxes them and they fall asleep."

Shortly after the baby was retrieved, at approximately 5 p.m. Wednesday, the dead body of the adult mother washed ashore in between NWS Earle eastern beach and Leonardo State Marina beach.

Because the state lab did not have room to take the mother, the public will never know what caused her death, said Dean. She will be buried at the scene where she was found.

The Animal Health Diagnostic Lab run by the New Jersey Dept. of Agriculture in Trenton had room to accept the baby dolphin for a necropsy. It is there currently.

But Dean said she hopes the necropsy results from the baby can provide clues as to what killed the mother.

Last week's report: Dead Dolphin Washes Ashore In Middletown; 6th In Past Month (March 15)

A day after this article was published: 'Mass Stranding Event' Of 8 Dolphins In Sea Isle City