Photo: NOAA / Audubon Aquarium Rescue
A
dead
dolphin
recently
found
washed
up
at
West
Mae’s
Beach
in
Cameron
Parish,
Louisiana
was
shot
three
times,
according
to
a
news
release
from
the
National
Oceanic
and
Atmospheric
Administration.
The
NOAA
is
now
offering
a
$20,000
reward
for
any
information
that
leads
to
the
successful
identification
and
prosecution
of
whoever
committed
the
heinous
act
against
nature.
NOAA Fisheries received a tip on March 13 from the Southeast Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline about a dead dolphin on the beach. The nearby Audubon Aquarium Rescue was dispatched and recovered the young dolphin, bringing it to the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, where an investigation of the dolphin’s remains revealed some disturbing facts.
“The necropsy (animal autopsy) revealed multiple bullets lodged in the carcass, including in the brain, spinal cord, and heart of the dolphin. The animal appeared to have died from the trauma, which occurred at or near the time of death,” NOAA said in a press release this week.
Harassing, harming, or killing dolphins is against the law under the Marine Mammals Protection Act, which can carry a $100,000 fine and a year in prison per violation.
The
last
known
dolphin
killing
case
within
the
U.S.
occurred
when
a
bottlenose
dolphin
was
found
washed
up
on
the
beach
in
Fort
Myers,
Florida
in
2022.
That
dolphin
was
stabbed
to
death,
according
to
the
Animal
Legal
Defense
Fund.
Two
dolphins
were
found
shot
and
stabbed
near
Naples,
Florida
in
early
2020.
But
the
last
time
someone
in
the
U.S.
was
captured
and
faced
serious
consequences
for
harming
dolphins
was
in
2009
when
a
50-year-old
fishing
boat
captain
got
two
years
in
prison
for
throwing
homemade
pipe
bombs
into
the
ocean.
At least 33 dolphins, including this most recent case, have been intentionally killed in the Gulf of Mexico since 2002. People with information about the dolphin killed in Louisiana last month are encouraged to call the NOAA enforcement hotline at 1-800-853-1964.
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