Struggling dolphin dies on Lavallette beach

LAVALETTE - A dolphin that appeared to lifeguards to be entangled in a net near the surf on Friday did not survive an attempt to rescue it.

Bob Schoelkopf, director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, said one of the center's rescuers paddled out on a surfboard to reach the struggling 300-pound dolphin but found it was not trapped in gear.

"It was in a weakened state and using the sand to rest its tail. Our rescuer tried to redirect it back out into the ocean," he said.

Instead, he said the dolphin turned and swam to the beach under its own will, where it died minutes later. He said it was a common dolphin.

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Schoelkopf did not know what caused the dolphin to die but said the state Dept. of Agriculture is performing a necropsy to determine the cause of death.

The center was involved in another rescue Sunday in Middle Township where it successfully captured a bottlenose dolphin stuck in a shallow creek and returned it to Delaware Bay.

Schoelkopf said they've had only two reported dolphin deaths this summer and in both cases the bodies had washed up to shore in a decomposed state. The cause of death was not determined in either case.

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Dan Radel: 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com