Dolphin Found Dead on Avalon Beach

AVALON – Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC), in Brigantine, announced on its Facebook page that its members retrieved the body of a dead bottlenose dolphin that washed ashore at the 50th Street beach in Avalon Feb. 27.
The 8-foot-long dolphin, which was found at around 5 p.m., was the fourth dolphin found dead on New Jersey beaches in the last 10 days, an NJ.com report said.
Staff from the MMSC brought the dolphin’s body back to the center in Brigantine for a necropsy, which is the examination of an animal after its death. 
The MMSC is working with its stranding network partners from the Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation (MERR) Institute in Lewes, Delaware. 
The MMSC page said tissue samples would be collected and submitted for pathology. The MMSC said final necropsy results might take time to be completed, but it would share preliminary findings as soon as they are available.
According to the NJ.com report, three dolphins washed ashore at Sandy Hook and one in the same vicinity at Atlantic Highlands.
According to information released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 23 whales have washed ashore in the Greater Atlantic Region between Dec. 1, 2022, and Feb. 27. Nine of those have washed up on beaches in New York and New Jersey since Dec. 5, 2022.
The MMSC, a nonprofit, is authorized by the state and NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries under a federal permit to rescue and rehabilitate marine mammals. The center and NOAA have continued to say offshore wind survey work in the area is not at fault for the whale deaths. 
However, some groups are not accepting the NOAA position and continue to protest the development of wind turbine farms. U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd) has called for federal hearings on the matter to take place in New Jersey and Washington, D.C.
The MMSC expressed thanks to the Avalon Police Department and NOAA Office of Law Enforcement for their support on the beach, the Avalon Volunteer Fire Department for assisting the stranding team with loading the dolphin, and the Brigantine Fire Department for moving the dolphin once it was brought back to the center.