Stranding claims lives of spinner dolphins near Keys
A stranding of spinner dolphins in Florida Bay over the Labor Day weekend did not end well for eight of the marine mammals, but a dolphin found near Conch Key apparently survived.
Five spinner dolphins, normally considered a deep-water species, were discovered Saturday in Florida Bay.
All suffered from extreme dehydration and severe sunburn, said Art Cooper, president of the Dolphins Plus Marine Mammal Responder Team, based in Key Largo.
Four were found near Rabbit Key, about 20 miles north of Islamorada in Florida Bay. A fifth was located just north of Lower Matecumbe Key.
Two of the spinner dolphins were taken by Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution staff to Sea World in Orlando for additional treatment. One died Sunday and the second, known to be in critical condition, reportedly died Monday.
Three more spinner dolphins were found stranded inside Everglades National Park waters of Florida Bay on Monday.
Veterinarians determined the animals were in poor condition and would likely not survive a long transport to a facility that can house wild marine mammals.
Such a trip would be “potentially cruel,” Cooper said in a statement. “A decision was made at the federal level to euthanize the three.”
He speculated that conditions from Hurricane Hermine in the Gulf of Mexico may have driven the spinner dolphins into the shallow bay, but the cause may never be known.
Although the Florida Keys are home to several marine-mammal facilities, federal regulations say that because of a virus deadly to small whales and dolphins, wild marine mammals from strandings cannot be housed with captive dolphins. Sea World has a care facility separate from their show pools.
Rick Trout, a dolphin-freedom activist who helped found the now-inactive Marine Mammal Conservancy in Key Largo, strongly disagrees with the decision to euthanize the spinner dolphins.
“I think it’s totally unprofessional, mindless madness,” Trout said. “What are we going to learn by killing these animals right off the bat? At least find out what we’re dealing with.”
Attempts to contact Sea World and the federal Marine Mammal Stranding Network were not successful at press time.
Cooper said a spinner dolphin was found swimming in a Conch Key canal on Monday, “looking a little uncomfortable with the confines.”
“We gently herded the spinner dolphin out into deep water near the Long Key Bridge,” he said. “The animal began swimming and breathing normally and swam off out of sight.”
An aerial survey by the National Park Service and Dolphins Plus on Monday did not find any other stranded dolphins.
Spinner dolphins are smaller than the familiar bottlenose dolphin, and named for their acrobatic leaps from the water.
This story was originally published September 7, 2016 at 9:23 AM with the headline "Stranding claims lives of spinner dolphins near Keys."