A pair of $20,000 rewards have been offered for information that leads to the arrest of people who killed two dolphins in Florida and Texas. Photo: Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network
Early in April, the sad news broke that a dolphin had perished after beachgoers at Quintana Beach in Texas found it on the sand. Instead of helping it back into the water, some of them decided to ride the animal. Just a few weeks prior, a dead dolphin was found on Fort Myers Beach, Florida, that had apparently been impaled. Now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced $20,000 rewards to find the people responsible.
Both instances were good examples of people with no respect for wildlife. According to NOAA, it’s suspected that the Florida dolphin “was impaled while in a begging position.” Begging, as you’d assume, is not natural behavior for a wild dolphin. It’s likely that it is associated with illegal feeding. The Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits the harassing, harming, killing or feeding of wild dolphins.
The Texas incident reportedly occurred when a female bottlenose dolphin stranded herself on a beach. She was initially pushed back into the ocean, but unfortunately a handful of spectators thought it might be fun to attempt to ride her. Eventually, someone called the officials, but the dolphin died before rescuers were able to get there.
Anyone caught harassing, harming, killing, or feeding wild dolphins could face up to up to $100,000 in fines and up to a year in jail per violation.
