Follow
The dolphin calf was pre-weaned
BEACON TRANSCRIPT – The dolphin calf was euthanized after getting stranded in a Northern California marsh, in spite of efforts to preserve its life. It’s unfortunate that authorities were unable to rescue the young mammal in spite of getting it away from the land and in the hands of professionals.
On Friday morning, November 28th, the young dolphin was spotted off Elkhorn Slough, which is south of San Francisco, California. According to the witnesses, it was swimming around in circles, alone and confused, which prompted them to call the Center for Marine Services.
At 8:30 AM, they notified the service of the dolphin’s odd behavior. However, agents stated that they could not interfere until the animal was stranded upon land or beached. And, surely enough, that occurred in only a matter of hours. The young mammal ended up stranded on the muddy shores, and the Center for Marine Services finally dispatched a team at around 3 PM.
However, the personnel did not reach the sandbar with the beached dolphin until 4:30 PM, which made their rescue mission impossible. Due to the weather conditions, the muddied shores, and the dimming light, they decided that it was unsafe to attempt a rescue. The baby dolphin was engulfed in the thick layer of mud. Thus, they were forced to wait until the next day.
On Saturday morning, they were able to rescue the stranded mammal from the shore and bring it to close-by marine veterinarians. They found that the young animal was not even weaned yet, meaning that it still depended on its mother for nourishment. Due to its mother’s absence, its condition was severe and it was still deteriorating. It couldn’t survive on its own, and was certainly not old enough to provide for itself.
After a long search throughout the waters, the rescue team could not find the calf’s mother.
Even in the careful hands of veterinarians, the dolphin baby’s health was still in decline. After 24 hours of battling for life, the poor creature’s strength was drained, and there was no hope that it would ever recover. The veterinarians consulted the National Marine Fisheries Services before reaching the conclusion that it could not live on its own.
They were forced to euthanized the dolphin calf, taking the most humane option possible given in the unfortunate situation.
Image source: zooborns.com
