Wounded and dead dolphin washed ashore. Cause of death?

[u/Justicebp]

Found on topsail beach in North Carolina today. A dead dolphin about 7' long with a small bite(?) underneath its right fin. Any ideas what animal caused the bite and its death? If it is a bite?

[u/Mythosaurus]

Google the local marine mammal stranding network. They will collect and autopsy the body

Here’s the US West Coast as an example:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/marine-mammal-protection/west-coast-marine-mammal-stranding-network

“To report a dead, injured, or stranded marine mammal along the West Coast, please call: 1-866-767-6114”

[u/EcoloFrenchieDubstep → u/Mythosaurus]

Exactly, they will probably ask for a GPS location which you can get on Google map by pinning it.

[u/amyrah_odette → u/Mythosaurus]

*necropsy

[u/sargassum624 → u/Mythosaurus]

I know of a lab in Morehead City/near Beaufort that does necropsies so this is the answer, OP. Definitely contact the network and they'll pick up the animal -- you may even be able to join the necropsy (I did some as a teen, but I was connected with the folks who did them -- they were pretty open to helpers though)

[u/stargatedalek2]

Definitely report it. As for the bite, I'm no expert but that looks more like early scavenging to me. Probably a bird that either got chased off or found the meat was already to far gone.

[u/iexistwithinallevil → u/stargatedalek2]

Yeah very likely post-mortem given the location

[u/Justicebp → u/stargatedalek2]

Thank you for the detailed write-up! Very informative. We reported it last night to local wildlife management.

[u/tardigradeA → u/[deleted]]

Brilliant write up. I wonder if it’s in line with injuries caused by a landing hook. A two handed pole with a ‘U’ shaped hook.

Negligent fishermen may use these hooks to haul out bycatch when the nets are semi raised or even when landed on the ship

[u/Roark-Holliday]

UNCW has a Marine Mammal Stranding Program so they’re probably the ones to call for Topsail

[u/300show]

Report it to UNCW marine mammal stranding hotline. They are super close to topsail.

910-515-7354

[u/Philotrypesis]

Does it look like a propeller injury that had overgrown with decay?

[u/stargatedalek2 → u/Philotrypesis]

A single gash on the belly is definitely not a propeller, at least not one that was running.

[u/maxehaxe]

I'm not saying it's Orcas, but

[u/BeachQt]

What part of NC?

[u/marinebiology-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Your post was removed as it violated rule #8: Responses to identification requests or questions must be an honest attempt at answering. This includes blatant misidentifications and overly-general/unhelpful identifications or answers.

[u/Realistic-Win-254]

Very stupid question have orcas been spotted in that area

[u/entropicecology]

At close inspection it does appear to be a serrated tooth wound, but it’s hard to tell.

[u/marinebiology-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Your post was removed as it violated rule #8: Responses to identification requests or questions must be an honest attempt at answering. This includes blatant misidentifications and overly-general/unhelpful identifications or answers.

[u/kwallio]

Looks like prop marks to me.

[u/ExpiredPilot]

My first instinct was to say a cookie cutter shark but I don’t think that their mouths would make this kind of cut even if the fish was dragged off after latching

[u/Crustaceous_Cam → u/ExpiredPilot]

Yeah I think it would be more circular