Dead newborn dolphin found on Litchfield Beach Tuesday morning

Members of a local sea turtle enthusiast club discovered a deceased newborn bottlenose dolphin while they were out for a stroll in the Litchfield Beach area checking in on sea turtle nests early Tuesday morning.

When they found the baby dolphin about 6:30 a.m. in Midway Inlet in the South Litchfield Beach area, they alerted Jeff McClary, head coordinator and co-founder of the South Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts, who is also a part of the marine mammal stranding network — a group dedicated to aiding beached animals, he said.

“I hate the fact that it had to happen,” said McClary.

McClary sounded the alarm that the dolphin had been found and called others in the chain with the marine mammal stranding network, and a woman came from Charleston and took it to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration center.

The dolphin was held at McClary’s at his home until it was transported to Charleston.

Once the dolphin arrived at the center in Charleston, a necropsy was performed to determine the dolphin’s cause of death, said Wayne McFee, Research Wildlife Biologist with NOAA.

“We’ve taken samples, and we won’t know anything until we get results back,” said McFee, who said it could be weeks before scientists learn how the dolphin died.

While the group waits for the outcome of testing to reveal the dolphin’s cause of death, McFee said it appears the dolphin likely died at sea then washed ashore.

“These animals die at sea then they’re at the mercy of the currents and winds and then they wash ashore,” said McFee.

The dolphin was a newborn, and it looks as if the animal nursed at least once before its untimely death, McFee said.

Many possibilities exist as to the possible cause of its demise, McFee said, who added the dolphin was fairly thin and may have had a health problem.

About three or four marine animals wash ashore a month in South Carolina, McFee said.

He also warned of the dangers of noble-hearted beachgoers, who want to help, but who should never push a beached animal back out to sea if they stumble across one.

“If you do see a live animal on the beach, don’t push it back in,” he said.

McFee said he understands people are just trying to help, but if an animal is on the beach, it’s likely sick or injured and needs some kind of aid.

Pushing it back toward the waters prolongs the animal’s suffering as it drifts at sea and puts it at risk for ocean predators like sharks, he said.

Sometimes they simply wash ashore in a different location and the rescuers end up on wild goose chases trying to find the injured or sick marine animals.

This story was originally published August 24, 2016 at 10:44 AM with the headline "Dead newborn dolphin found on Litchfield Beach Tuesday morning."