Lifeguards are usually focused on humans, but Tuesday they found a dolphin stranded in the water behind the Trump International Beach Resort in Sunny Isles Beach and rescue workers did everything possible to save the dolphin, but ultimately it wasn’t enough.
Rescue workers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration worked to save the dolphin after it beached itself. A crowd of onlookers watched as the workers tended to the dolphin. Veterinarian Ruth Ewing arrived at the scene and said the dolphin was in serious condition.
“The animal is very thin,” Ewing said. “You can see the ribs through the skin and also sunken along behind the head. Based on the animal’s condition, you could tell that the animal hasn’t eaten in a while. And so, usually when these animals are not eating, they’re sick.”
Beachgoers initially cheered when the dolphin was loaded onto an ocean rescue truck, but crews said the dolphin had died by that time. NOAA officials said the dolphin had symptoms of morbilli virus.
Since 2013, NOAA Fisheries reports show more than 1500 bottlenose dolphin strandings across the Mid-Atlantic. Experts think the virus may be the reason for such an unusually high mortality rate in this dolphin population.
“It’s transmitted very easily in the population, especially if the animals haven’t seen the virus in a while,” Ewing said.
The dolphin’s body will be transported to Fort Pierce for a necropsy to determine the exact cause of death.
