happy_pitbull
Aug 26th 2007, 03:59 PM
So my hubby who likes to go walking along the local shoreline here, found this floating in the water on wednesday past...
Its close to a meter long, and is some sort of dolphin. If you look at the shots closely, you can see its throat area is ripped out, there is a lot of damage there. Could have been hit by a large boats propeller, or attacked by a shark... or died, then a shark decided to have a bite.
Either way it is sad... :( I love dolphins, and have never seen a live one in the wild before. I have seen pilot whales, but never a dolphin.
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9665/0000699rp0.jpg
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9466/0000703de7.jpg
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/2976/0000709qg3.jpg
From the look of the slice mark here above its pectoral fin, neat and clean, it does look like a propeller got him/her:
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9151/0000723el1.jpg
It also has some older scars towards the tail end, if you look closely you can see a circular scar that has healed over. With the length being close to a meter, that would make this a young, maybe very young calf, as white-sided dolphins are just a bit over a meter at birth, and 2 meters long mature.
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/3326/0000725vr8.jpg
We were going to report this to somebody, but figured it would have floated back out to sea as the tide was going out. Plus the location is hard to describe to people.... I even found a # to call to report stranded or dead marine animals (1-866-567-6277 MARS = Marine Animal Response Society) ... but again, I am sure it must be gone now.
Still, this is very disturbing and sad ..... :( You wonder what caused this beautiful creatures death....
Heres another pic, more of a close-up of the tail end... I think it is a white-sided dolphin... and a few others on my home forum also think white-sided dolphin:
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/1858/closeupxj8.jpg
Went for a walk today down to the shore, and it is still down there. Someone else found it, and has tied it by the tail to a stick, so it will stay on shore.
It was partially submerged, and by the time I left the tide had come in more, and it was totally submerged. One side is partially eaten, and you could see right inside of it, and could see crabs crawling around over it and in it... and the largest crab was chasing the smaller ones away. It was all very interesting to watch !! (nope, I did not find it gross, some people might though, LOL! ) Guess the biology in me (BSc major) makes me curious to all living and dead creatures... I was always like that ::D:
So life and death... makes you think. The poor thing was killed most likely by humans, but other life forms will benefit as it slowly gets eaten and decomposes back into the environment. Crabs, flies (when not submerged) fish, birds, etc.... it would be neat to be able to watch the critters eating it at night... I bet thats when the most activity goes on down there. A night cam would be neat on it LOL!
Min
Its close to a meter long, and is some sort of dolphin. If you look at the shots closely, you can see its throat area is ripped out, there is a lot of damage there. Could have been hit by a large boats propeller, or attacked by a shark... or died, then a shark decided to have a bite.
Either way it is sad... :( I love dolphins, and have never seen a live one in the wild before. I have seen pilot whales, but never a dolphin.
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9665/0000699rp0.jpg
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9466/0000703de7.jpg
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/2976/0000709qg3.jpg
From the look of the slice mark here above its pectoral fin, neat and clean, it does look like a propeller got him/her:
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9151/0000723el1.jpg
It also has some older scars towards the tail end, if you look closely you can see a circular scar that has healed over. With the length being close to a meter, that would make this a young, maybe very young calf, as white-sided dolphins are just a bit over a meter at birth, and 2 meters long mature.
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/3326/0000725vr8.jpg
We were going to report this to somebody, but figured it would have floated back out to sea as the tide was going out. Plus the location is hard to describe to people.... I even found a # to call to report stranded or dead marine animals (1-866-567-6277 MARS = Marine Animal Response Society) ... but again, I am sure it must be gone now.
Still, this is very disturbing and sad ..... :( You wonder what caused this beautiful creatures death....
Heres another pic, more of a close-up of the tail end... I think it is a white-sided dolphin... and a few others on my home forum also think white-sided dolphin:
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/1858/closeupxj8.jpg
Went for a walk today down to the shore, and it is still down there. Someone else found it, and has tied it by the tail to a stick, so it will stay on shore.
It was partially submerged, and by the time I left the tide had come in more, and it was totally submerged. One side is partially eaten, and you could see right inside of it, and could see crabs crawling around over it and in it... and the largest crab was chasing the smaller ones away. It was all very interesting to watch !! (nope, I did not find it gross, some people might though, LOL! ) Guess the biology in me (BSc major) makes me curious to all living and dead creatures... I was always like that ::D:
So life and death... makes you think. The poor thing was killed most likely by humans, but other life forms will benefit as it slowly gets eaten and decomposes back into the environment. Crabs, flies (when not submerged) fish, birds, etc.... it would be neat to be able to watch the critters eating it at night... I bet thats when the most activity goes on down there. A night cam would be neat on it LOL!
Min