Community Corner

Necropsy Finds Parasites in Dolphin That Died in Ocean City

Scientists continue to search for clues in a string of similar deaths.

Preliminary results of a necropsy performed on the dolphin found dead in a bayside Ocean City lagoon on Sunday (Feb. 12) show "a heavy load of parasites channeling into the brain," according to Bob Schoelkopf, the director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine.

Similar parasites were found in a dolphin found dead on a Delaware Bay beach in Lower Township on Sunday and in a dolphin that died shortly after stranding in Stafford Township off Barnegat Bay on Monday (Feb. 13), Schoelkopf said.

All three animals were common dolphins, a species that typically travels in groups at least 20 miles off the coast of New Jersey.

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The necropsies were conducted by the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, PA.

Schoelkopf said the parasites occur naturally and can be spread in many ways — from exposure to a pod's own fecal waste to consumption of raw fish.

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He said none of the animals had any food in the stomach — a sign of their distress, given that he believes they had ample food available to them.

The Penn veterinarians will continue to compare lab results and collaborate with scientists investigating the stranding of 177 common dolphins on Cape Cod (with 124 dying) in Massachusetts as they work to determine an exact cause of death.

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Read a Discovery News feature on some of the theories of why dolphins beach themselves.
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The common dolphin in Ocean City was first spotted in the lagoon between 17th and 18th streets some time during the middle of the week of Monday, Feb. 6. It swam in circles near the foot of the lagoon for several days before it was found dead, wedged in a dock ladder. The discovery was reportedly made on Sunday afternoon by an Ocean City resident visiting the lagoon with her nephew.

The Stranding Center was monitoring the dolphin, but because it was swimming freely and nothing was preventing it from leaving the lagoon, it chose not to try to transport it.

Schoelkopf said netting a dolphin can often be risky — the stress can cause cardiac arrest, particularly in animals that are not fully healthy, and the animals can even drown if they are not pulled to the surface quickly enough.  


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