Half-Eaten Dolphin, Possibly A Shark Victim, Washes Up At Jersey Shore

A half-eaten dolphin that was possibly eaten by a shark washed up on a beach at the Jersey Shore over the weekend.

Karissa Kerns of Philadelphia said she was visiting the 4th Street Beach in North Wildwood Saturday with her mother and 4-year-old son around 9:45 a.m. when they saw the dolphin. Kerns took the picture as lifeguards moved the body, and she permitted Patch to use it.

“I’ve been going to this beach for years; never seen anything like this,” Kerns said.

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center, which handles sea life that washes up on the Jersey Shore, said the animal was a 3-foot-long newborn bottlenose dolphin. The animal likely died and then was eaten, according to the center.

The center, on its Facebook page, suggested that the dolphin was eaten by a shark.

“Reports that it was an adult dolphin are wrong,” according to the center. “Dead floating animals are very likely to have shark bites. Live healthy animals usually stay well away from sharks.”

Bob Schoelkopf of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine told NBC10 that the dolphin was likely killed by a sand tiger shark, a slow-moving fish with no confirmed human fatalities.

“We investigate every marine mammal and sea turtle that comes ashore dead or alive,” the center said on its Facebook page. “Fresh dead animals are taken for necropsy to try to determine the cause of death and to check for disease.”

Kerns, noting the recent shark attacks in North Carolina, said the sight of the dolphin initially “freaked me out.

“I think I’ll stay out of deep water,” she said.

She said the lifeguards carried the dolphin to the trash cans to hide it because people were arriving on the beach. Then the beach patrol came and removed it a few minutes later.

Photo: Karissa Kerns