A bottlenose dolphin was brought ashore dead in Monmouth County early Sunday morning after a boater spotted it floating in the ocean overnight.
Volunteers from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine drove to Long Branch Sunday morning to assess the carcass, said its director, Sheila Dean. More information about the animal would likely be available Monday, she said.
The nonprofit marine life organization has responded to 12 other bottlenose dolphin strandings this year, according to data available on its website. One was found dead in Spring Lake last weekend, the data shows.
Paul Marzolla, of Long Branch, told NJ Advance Media he reported Sunday’s dolphin to the Stranding Center after finding it around 5 a.m. while fishing from the shoreline. He set out before sunrise to reach the beach by high tide, he said.
“The one thing I love about fishing is that you get some truly amazing encounters with nature — seals, whales, sharks, foxes, I’ve seen it all; however, this morning was an unfortunate encounter,” Marzolla said.
A type of plastic material appeared to be wrapped around the dolphin’s tail. Marzolla described the material as “industrial-grade.” That plastic actually was the dolphin’s intestine, which, according to the Stranding Center, was likely pulled out by animals.
Marzolla said he saw the animal while casting his line and gradually walked toward it.
“I’m casting and I noticed something large washed up in the distance, couldn’t quite make it out, thinking it might be a buoy or some other debris that pushed in with the tide,” Marzolla said. “I continued making my way down the beach, and I said to myself, ‘I hope that’s not a dolphin,’ as marine mammals have really struggled in our waters the past few years.”
The dolphin was earlier seen floating in the water by a boater overnight, with responders waiting onshore for it to eventually arrive on the beach, Dean said. It was recovered from the beach by 10 a.m. Sunday.
An investigation into its death was limited because the animal was in an advanced stage of decomposition. The Stranding Center believes died several days prior to washing ashore.
Signs of blunt-force trauma were not found.
A rash of marine mammal strandings in New Jersey in recent years has alarmed both scientists and the public. Some advocacy groups have repeatedly charged that offshore wind development off New Jersey’s coast is to blame, but evidence has yet to link those claims.
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Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.
