On the evening of October 23rd, we were notified about a deceased dolphin on Folly Beach. LMMN stranding tech, Nicole Principe, and NOAA contractor, Bonnie Ertel, responded in the morning and brought the dolphin back to the lab for a full necropsy. This juvenile female was extremely emaciated, had severe skin lesions, congested lungs with parasites, and an enlarged spleen. Histopathology testing will hopefully give us a deeper understanding as to what caused the skin lesions, as well as what was going on internally.
*Update - test results for morbillivirus were negative
We were grateful to be able to respond to this animal and collect valuable information. We will update when we know more. Thank you to the officers on scene and to Valerie Sprinkel and Lauren Rust for assisting with the necropsy.
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