Dolphin Washes Up On East Hampton Beach: DEC

EAST HAMPTON, NY — New York State Department of Environmental Conservation officers responded to a report of a dolphin that washed up on the beach in East Hampton last month, the DEC said.

On Jan. 29, three ECOS responded to the call about the dolphin found on Egypt Beach. When the officers arrived, they found the 7-foot common dolphin and transported it to the Ridge Conservation Area, where a necropsy was conducted to determine the cause of death, the DEC said.

The necropsy was done in cooperation with the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, the DEC said.

"Assisting biologists to conduct this important research helps ECOs better understand how to help preserve marine life populations," the DEC said.

The discovery of the dolphin comes after a recent spate of whale strandings on Long Island and in nearby areas.

Those strandings were likely due to natural causes, not humans, experts told Patch in December.

Recently, a deceased humpback whale first washed ashore in Southampton and was then carried out by the storm tides before it was found on the beach in Napeaugue State Park, Rob DiGiovanni Jr., chief scientist at the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, said.

The whale was then carried out by the tides again and made final landfall in Amagansett, where the AMSEAS team conducted an examination on the 31-foot female.

"Our biologists collected samples to be sent to a veterinary pathologist for further analysis to confirm necropsy findings," he said.

The humpback whale's stranding was followed by a Risso's dolphin found in Montauk and a short-beaked common dolphin found in Westhampton Beach, AMSEAS said.

A whale was found in a North Fork creek in November.

A sperm whale was also found "struggling" in the surf on Rockaway Beach, DiGiovanni said.

"We've had five large whales in the last 60 days that have washed up" in nearby areas, he said in December. "We are trying to look at commonalities."

The public is encouraged to report even regular sightings because if it can be determined that the increase in strandings is reflective of a general uptick in the whale population nearby, that would be helpful, DiGiovanni said.

Although there was decomposition, due to the animal being tossed in the surf, and while the official cause of the death for the whale that ended up in Amagansett has not yet been determined, there were no signs of a vessel strike or previous entanglement, as well as no obvious signs of trauma, Kimberly Durham of AMSEAS said.

"When we conduct these examinations, we look at two basic categories — natural or human-induced deaths. One thing we have not found is that they are human-induced. We are looking now to natural or biological issues," DiGiovanni said.

AMSEAS thanked the public for reporting the strandings using the New York State Stranding Hotline and asked people to call 631-369-9829 to report any sick, injured, or deceased marine mammal or sea turtles.