Dolphin Found on East End Beach

A dolphin was found washed ashore in the East End early Sunday morning.  

The striped dolphin was found near a jetty at Lincoln Boulevard beach, according to the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, which received a call about the dead mammal at about 7:30 a.m. Oct. 7.

A Lido Beach resident that contacted Patch about the beached dolphin said her friend was one of four people that lift it from the beach and into truck, where it was transported to Riverhead. The nonprofit foundation recovers any marine mammals or sea turtles that wash ashore in New York State.

“Because we’re a nonprofit, in this particular circumstance we were only able to bring out one person,” said Kim Durham, a rescue program director for the Riverhead Foundation. “So we usually enlist any other resources a town or village can provide. In this case, we were able to secure some animal control officers who were able to assist us with the recovery.”

When found, the dolphin, possibly a male and approximately seven-feet long and 300 pounds, was still in an early stage of decomposition, indicating that it may have died recently and was cast ashore, Durham said.  

The mammal will be frozen and the foundation’s forensic department will perform a necropsy in coming weeks to determine cause of death. But some signs suggest that the animal may have died of advanced age. “The teeth weren’t sharp, which can indicated an aged animal,” Durham said. “As far as its body condition, it appeared to be on the thin side.”

She said the foundation would also take numerous samples of the animal, including DNA and teeth, and send them to pathologists, and will also achieve samples and document them for the state.