The three-foot long carcass of a baby dolphin was discovered on the Queens shoreline Sunday, and wildlife experts say the dead cetacean could be linked to a mass stranding off the Cape Cod coast. The cause of death remains unknown, but the common dolphin was reportedly malnourished, and may not have been weaned. It was discovered by park workers in Fort Tilden park off Jamaica Bay, and was picked up by the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation.
Kim Durham, the foundation’s rescue program director, tells the Daily News there were "no signs of trauma." Researchers say an increasing number of common dolphins have been spotted in the Northeast in the winter, which may be attributable to climate change and a steady improvement in environmental cleanliness in the waters off the Rockaway peninsula.
The common dolphin, which is much smaller than the better-known bottlenose dolphin, is the same species that has been stranded on the beaches of Cape Cod in unprecedented numbers this year. According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, 132 dolphins have been found stranded since the "stranding event" started January 12th. 54 of those were found alive, and 37 of that number were successfully released back into the wild.
A deceased adult female common dolphin recovered from East Hampton, NY on February 13th, 2012. A necropsy revealed that this dolphin was advance in age and had recently calved. The Riverhead Foundation says there is no indication that the two animals are related only that they are the same species. (Courtesy Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation)
