Six dolphins found off the shore of New Jersey were euthanized Tuesday and another two were found dead after a pod was discovered in a “mass stranding event,” according to a non-profit organization in the area.
The dolphins were found at approximately 11 a.m. Tuesday, Anthony Garreffi, the police chief in Sea Isle City, told NJ Advance Media.
Officers and other local rescue squad members covered the dolphins in blankets and tried to pour ocean water on the creatures.
Garreffi said it was immediately clear that two of the dolphins were deceased, and six were alive, WPVI reported.
Volunteers with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center said the animals’ remains were sent to the New Jersey state lab for necropsies to determine the cause of death.
“We share in the public’s sorrow for these beautiful animals, and hope that the necropsies will help us understand the reason for their stranding,” the group wrote on its Facebook page.
Tuesday’s dolphin deaths followed one dolphin calf that was euthanized last week and an adult dolphin found dead nearby when the calf was discovered.
The animal rescue teams received a report about a pair of stranded dolphins on March 15, the group posted on its Facebook page.
A team found a pair of dolphins – an adult and a calf – on a sandbar about 150 feet from shore, but the adult dolphin was already dead, the group reported.
The calf was brought ashore on a stretcher and taken to a vet who determined the young dolphin was too weak to survive, the group said.