R.I.P., Waccamaw dolphin: How mammal’s death will help scientists learn about species

Even though the dolphin spotted way up the Waccamaw River died Tuesday, its body will go on to help scientists better understand the affects of freshwater on the mammals’ skin.

Last week a dolphin was seen in the Waccamaw River well past Conway, much farther inland than they typically go. There were talks of a rescue, but the dolphin was found dead before a decision could be made to undergo the expensive and dangerous process of getting the dolphin back to the ocean.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Wildlife Biologist Wayne McFee said his organization examined the dolphin’s corpse and found it was very old. McFee said its exact age is not known, but it had scars on its snout, and had pneumonia and congested lungs.

Its stomach was mostly empty when it died. It potentially had some parasites and heart disease. McFee said they will learn more with future studying.

“That was an old animal,” he said. “The really only thing we saw externally was some skin lesions.”

When the dolphin was first spotted, McFee advised that the species’ skin is adapted to saltwater and can break down in freshwater. While there were skin lesions on the dolphin’s body, there were not enough skin sores to be the death of the dolphin. He said they believe the dolphin was not in the freshwater that long, estimating about a week spent away from the ocean.

Being in freshwater can make the dolphin’s skin turn pale, but McFee said the Waccamaw dolphin’s skin was still close to its normal color. Stil,l there was evidence of time spent away from the ocean on the sea mammal’s body.

While it is generally understood freshwater is bad for dolphin skin, McFee said scientists have a lot of questions about this process and how deadly it is for the creatures.

McFee said skin samples from the Waccamaw dolphin will help scientists better understand how the skin reacts when it’s out of its native saltwater.

“Especially with dolphins in freshwater, we just don’t know how long they can live in freshwater,” he said. “All that will help us get a better idea of what dolphins can tolerate.”