Mote responds to Fraser's dolphin stranding

Mote Marine Laboratory’s Stranding Investigations Program received numerous calls beginning around 12:30 p.m. on July 29, from concerned citizens reporting a group of approximately 20 Fraser’s dolphins stranding along Turtle Beach on Siesta Key.

Mote’s Stranding Investigations Program staff arrived on scene at approximately 1:00 p.m., and was assisted by the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program (SDRP), a Chicago Zoological Society Program in collaboration with Mote, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The majority of the dolphins had already been pushed back to the sea by beachgoers, and they were milling in a tight group in choppy waters several hundred yards offshore.

An 81-inch-long, 158 pound male did not rejoin the rest of the group despite an attempt by responders to send it back. It was examined by Mote’s staff veterinarian, Dr. Adrienne Atkins, on site, and following discussion with NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, it was determined that the most humane decision was to euthanize the dolphin based on the species and the multiple re-strandings. Initial findings from a necropsy (animal autopsy) were inconclusive with regards to cause of death. Tissue analyses may provide insight when results become available in several weeks, but not every stranding has a cause that can be determined.

The remainder of the group moved offshore and out of sight. Late in the afternoon, two more dolphins were reported to have come ashore off Caspersen Beach in Venice. They were pushed offshore before FWC and SDRP responders arrived.