Hunt is on for dolphin killers in northern Gulf
Mutilated, shot mammals have washed ashore along Gulf Coast
By MARY PEREZ —
meperez@sunherald.com
Somebody is maiming and killing dolphins.
On Friday, a team from the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport found a dolphin on Ship Island with its lower jaw missing.
Last weekend, IMMS responded to a dead dolphin found along the Ocean Springs/Gautier coastline with a 9mm bullet wound. "It went through the abdomen, into the kidneys and killed it," said Moby Solangi, IMMS executive director.
In Louisiana, a dolphin was found with its tail cut off.
"Animals don't eat each other's tails off," Solangi said.
"We think there's someone or some group on a rampage," he said. "They not only kill them but also mutilate them."
IMMS investigated the first dolphin shooting earlier this year and incidents have increased in the past few months. In Alabama, someone stabbed and killed a dolphin with a screwdriver, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration press release. In September, a dolphin was found on Elmer's Island, La., with a bullet in its lung. Others have been mutilated with knife-like lesions.
NOAA on Thursday issued a "heads up" directive for environmental and enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for human-interaction dolphin strandings.
"Please be aware that we are seeing a marked increase in HI strandings along the northern Gulf," the email message said. The National Marine Fisheries Services Law Enforcement and the Southeast Regional Office are aware of the strandings, the message said, and are following the situation.
"We are requesting a 'heightened awareness' and continued careful documentation as
you examine all future carcasses," the NOAA directive said. IMMS and other agencies were asked to photo-document every animal found, to aid with prosecution.
NOAA and IMMS don't know yet know who is killing the dolphins, which is a federal offense. Anyone found harassing, harming, killing or feeding wild dolphins can be fined up to $100,000 and sentenced to one year in jail for each violation under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.
"This is not an ordinary person who is doing it," Solangi said. "We are working with the Coast Guard, police, the sheriff's office and Department of Marine Resources," which he said is the enforcement agency along coastal Mississippi.
Though many people appreciate the beauty of the dolphins that swim along the Mississippi shoreline, he said, others may see them as a nuisance.
NOAA said in a press release people need to understand feeding wild dolphins causes them to become so used to approaching humans and boats for food they make brazen attempts at preying on hooked bait and catches, creating conflicts with fishermen.
Solangi is turning to the public and especially recreational and commercial fishermen to provide information that might help identify a suspect or suspects.
"I think we need our fishermen friends to find these guys," he said. "Our best allies are shrimpers." The shrimp boats are out on the Mississippi Sound day and night.
Recreational fishermen should also be on the lookout for anyone harming the dolphins, he said.
Tips can be made anonymously by calling DMR's Marine Patrol dispatch at 523-4134 day or night, the IMMS dolphin line at 1-888-767-3657 or NOAA at 1-800-853-1964.
Solangi said the Gulf has already seen many dolphins die in the last two years from the oil spill and the dead zone. Now someone is intentionally killing them, he said. "It's heartbreaking."
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