Someone shot and killed a pregnant bottlenose dolphin in Mississippi -- and there's a big reward for anyone who helps find her killer.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the pregnant dolphin was found dead on a beach in Waveland, Mississippi, in April of this year. A necropsy revealed that the mother dolphin died of a gunshot wound from a small caliber bullet. Her unborn calf then died as a result of the mother's death.
Dolphins are protected under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. The Act prohibits harassing, harming, killing, and feeding wild dolphins. Violations are punishable by up to $100,000 in fines and one year in prison per violation. It was not clear whether the killing of a pregnant dolphin and her unborn calf would constitute one violation or two.
According to NOAA, several wildlife organizations are offering a combined reward of $11,500 for information leading to the identification and/or prosecution of those responsible. Anyone with information is asked to call either the NOAA Enforcement Hotline at (800) 853-1964 or NOAA's Slidell (Louisiana) Enforcement Field Office at (985) 643-6232. Tips can be left anonymously, but contact information must be provided in order to claim the reward.
NOAA reports that violence against dolphins in the Northern Gulf of Mexico region has been on the rise in recent years. Since 2002, at least 24 dolphins have been found stranded showing evidence of being shot with guns or arrows or being impaled with other objects. Sixty-eight percent of those strandings have occurred since 2010.
NOAA is also asking for the public's help in preventing future harm to dolphins by not feeding or attempting to feed them from boats or the shore. Dolphins who are fed by people learn to associate humans with food and put themselves in dangerous situations when they approach people, boats, and fishing gear looking for food. They can learn to approach fishing gear and teach this behavior to their young. Such behavior has, in some cases, resulted in violence toward dolphins by fishermen frustrated by the loss of their catch.
NOAA reports that violence against dolphins in the Northern Gulf of Mexico region has been on the rise in recent years. Since 2002, at least 24 dolphins have been found stranded showing evidence of being shot with guns or arrows or being impaled with other objects. Sixty-eight percent of those strandings have occurred since 2010.
NOAA is also asking for the public's help in preventing future harm to dolphins by not feeding or attempting to feed them from boats or the shore. Dolphins who are fed by people learn to associate humans with food and put themselves in dangerous situations when they approach people, boats, and fishing gear looking for food. They can learn to approach fishing gear and teach this behavior to their young. Such behavior has, in some cases, resulted in violence toward dolphins by fishermen frustrated by the loss of their catch.
