Diascund Creek Dolphin Found Dead

By Sam Thrift Saturday, September 03, 2011

The Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team found the bottlenose dolphin stuck in Diascund Creek dead Friday morning, after unsuccessful efforts to herd the animal out of the area.

The response team went back to the James City County fresh water creek early Friday to check on the animal and to try a new plan to guide it toward deeper waters, when they found it dead in the same creek. The team believes the dolphin had been swimming the body of water for the past four days.

The response team has taken the dolphin back to the Virginia Aquarium to perform a necropsy, according to Virginia Aquarium Public Relations Manager Joan Barns.

“Unfortunately the majority of [the Stranding Response Team’s] work is done on deceased animals,” Barns said. “During the necropsy, we look at all of the animal’s body parts to determine the cause of death. Then we share what we find with different agencies.”

The aquarium said in a press release Thursday that the six-to-eight foot dolphin was not trapped and was healthy. The aquarium team assessed the animal’s condition by observing behavior from kayaks for several hours.

“The dolphin is still free to swim and exhibiting typical dolphin behaviors,” the Aquarium said in Thursday's press release. “It is breathing normally and possibly even feeding, all key elements to the general good condition of the wild animal.”

David Malmquist, director of communications at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, explained that dolphins are salt water mammals, not adapted for long-term life in freshwater.

“Dolphins in the Chesapeake Bay tributaries are not unusual, but I would not think they would be able to live for long in fresh water,” he said.