Diascund Creek Dolphin was Elderly

By Sam Thrift Tuesday, September 06, 2011

The Virginia Aquarium confirmed the bottlenose dolphin the aquarium’s Stranding Response Team discovered dead Friday morning in Diascund Creek was an elderly specimen, according to a necropsy performed by the team on Saturday.

After unsuccessful efforts to herd the animal out of the freshwater creek last week, the response team went back to the James City County creek to try a new plan to guide it toward deeper waters. The Virginia Aquarium believes the dolphin swam into the area after high water levels from Hurricane Irene and had been swimming in the body of water for days prior to his death.

“The animal’s few remaining teeth were worn to nubs indicating that the dolphin was quite old,” said Christina Trapani, an Aquarium Stranding Response Team member in a press release. “Marks on the body such as old healed injuries corroborated that the dolphin had lived a long life.

“Additionally, its stomach was empty so it probably hadn’t been feeding recently.”

Sea World statistics say that bottlenose dolphins, on average, live to approximately 20 years and have a maximum lifespan of 45 to 50 years, with a one to two percent of population attaining maximum age.

Virginia Aquarium Public Relations Manager Joan Barns said the Stranding Response Team brought the dolphin back to the aquarium for a necropsy when the body was discovered.

“Unfortunately the majority of [the Stranding Response Team’s] work is done on deceased animals,” Barns said last week. “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.