A severely injured dolphin found swimming in the waters off of Pinellas County is being monitored by biologists.
The bottlenosed dolphin appears to have large gashes toward its tail and may have been hit by a boat propeller.
“This is a really serious injury for this dolphin, and frankly we are surprised that we are seeing some level of improvement,” biologist Laura Engleby told WFLA.
Engleby, who works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said they are monitoring the dolphin and plan to keep it in its natural environment because the capturing process could cause further injury.
She urged boaters to keep their distance.
This dolphin is under a lot of stress and it needs every ounce of energy to recover and so the best thing people can do is to keep a distance and not disturb it,” she said.
