Dolphin in Distress Dies Near Hampshire Yesterday

Last night, a team of experts from Long Island and the Village of Mamaroneck Fire Department reported to the bay area behind the Hampshire Country Club to remove a dead dolphin that had been spotted swimming there earlier that day.

Ken Cavanagh, owner of Sea Tow in the Mamaroneck harbor, saw the dolphin around 2 p.m. "and it was swimming fine," he said. At around 6 p.m, he noticed that it had gotten trapped in a tidal zone.

The animal was a female common dolphin, weighed about 265 pounds and was almost 7 feet long, according to Rob DiGiovanni, senior biologist and executive director of the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, which assisted in the dolphin's removal. Having conducted a necropsy, DiGiovanni's team believes the animal died of old age (it was a full-size animal and its teeth were "all worn down"), but other causes could be determined weeks, or even months from now.

At around 2 p.m. yesterday, a caller told the Village of Mamaroneck Police Department that a dolphin had been spotted in a water cove behind the Hampshire Country Club, said Police Department Lt. James Gaffney. The Environmental Conservation Police and the Coast Guard were notified, and representatives from the Riverhead Foundation arrived later that evening.

The Fire Department was contacted by police around 8 p.m. to assist with the removal and lighting of the area, said Mamaroneck Fire Department Chief Dean DeLitta. The dolphin was lying on the mud off of Greacen Point Road, in the bay area behind the Hampshire.

Between three members of the Foundation, two members of the Fire Department and two coast guards, the animal was lifted with a canvas stretcher and placed in a truck to be transported to the Foundation's headquarters for further study, DeLitta said.

That was the first time DeLitta ever encountered something like it. "In my 25 years [at the Fire Department], we've never had a dolphin rescue/recovery call," he said. "We had some seals out in the harbor this year, but I haven't heard of anybody knowing of any dolphins around."

Cavanagh says seal sightings are not unusual in the winter. "A lot of people don't know about it because it's so cold, but they are here every year," he said. Dolphins, however, are a different story. Last year in June, a group of about 300-400 dolphins were seen all around the Long Island Sound. For him, who has lived near the Mamaroneck Harbor for 40 years, that was a first. "Every couple of years you do see a stray dolphin coming into the area," he said, but there's usually something wrong with them, especially when they are alone.

While dolphin sighitngs in the Long Island Sound are uncommon, they have been increasing over the years, says DiGiovanni. The Foundation hasn't determined the cause as it's currently trying to raise funds for data collection. (Its primary mission as a non-profit is responding to animals when they are in need of assistance.)

DiGiovanni asks the public to report not only sick, but also healthy animals because it gives experts a better understanding of what is going on in our waters. The Foundation's hotline is 631-369-9829.