Dead dolphin found floating in Fort Bayou

JACKSON COUNTY, MS (WLOX) - It was a sad sight for folks in the Fort Bayou area as a dead dolphin was found floating in the water Wednesday.

Tyrone Adams and the staff at Mikey's on the Bayou had been watching the dolphin swim in the waters around Fort Bayou since early June, concerned that it may be in trouble.

"Back and forth about 100 foot area, like as if it was in a trap or something," said Adams, "It couldn't go no further. It would go 100 feet one way turn around and come back, swimming in circles about 100 feet each way."

Several people at Mikey's called for help, but they say no one came.

"They called Department of Marine Resources, a couple other people came and looked," Adams said, "They said, 'You know, it'll take time to do something about it.' And I said sooner or later it's probably gonna die; drown coming in and out of the water like that."

Adams, and Institute for Marine Mammal Studies Director Moby Solangi both lost sight of the dolphin on Monday.

"All the sudden I looked off across the deck and it's floating in the water," Adams said.

A crew from the IMMS Dolphin Rescue team made its way out to retrieve the dolphin shortly after it was found.

"Today we had a call from the general vicinity that there was a dead animal floating" said Solangi, "So we don't know if it's the same animal or not. We will identify the photographs."

IMMS attempted to apply to rescue the dolphin, but Solangi says it takes time for the government to authorize a rescue, and in this case, the animal may have been too sick.

"Fresh water could cause significant stress," Solangi said, "You may not have food, and if the animal is already sick, it could really debilitate it."

The rains from last week added a lot of fresh water that Solangi thinks probably hurt the dolphin even more, but until a necropsy is completed, it is hard to say how the animal died.

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