On November 3rd LMMN received a call about a dead dolphin at the north end of folly beach. Lauren Rust and Tracy Kowalczyk reported to the animal. Due to location and not having the ability to bring a vehicle to the animal, a necropsy was preformed on the beach.
We arrived on scene to an adult female dolphin that appeared to be emaciated. We observed and took notes on her external body as with every necropsy. She had a healed shark bite on her peduncle which was measured and recorded. Shark bites on dolphins are normal as they are going after the same food source which can cause the interaction. Dolphins have a great ability to heal so most bites like this just heal over time. With photo ID research we are able to track healing time from fresh wounds till the date they are healed which gives us great insight.
Internally, a major contributor to this animals passing was a severe infection of the right lung which was probably caused by pneumonia. We also found a fish hook in this animals stomach which shows us that there was human interaction. While the fish hook might not have been the cause of death for this animal, it is still an important lesson to make sure we are properly disposing our fishing gear so that it doesn't end up harming marine life.
All samples were collected and sent for further analysis on cause of death and the additional samples will be archived for any future studies.
Thank you to Emily Videtto, Matt Swensen, and Lola Renauer for assistance on this case!
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