Four dolphins die in sand of Mississippi Coast barrier island in ‘very unusual event’

Four dolphins of a species rarely seen on the Mississippi Coast died this week after they became stranded in the sand of Petit Bois Island.

The discovery, reported Monday by The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, began a sad search for answers about what killed the dolphins and why they died in the shallow waters of Mississippi. The species is called Pantropical Spotted Dolphins and usually seen in deeper waters. The institute said it was working this week with a team of veterinarians from Mississippi State University to perform necropsies, or animal autopsies, on the four dolphins.

“It is a very unusual event,” Moby Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, said.

Solangi said it was also strange to see four dolphins who died together. Their deaths “give us an indication that something is going on,” he said.

But the institute does not yet know what the problem could be. Sick dolphins seek shallow waters because they want to avoid predators and drowning. The dolphins could have fallen ill from a virus, bacteria or parasitic disease. An explosion also could have made the dolphins deaf, which would make it impossible for them to find food, mates or navigate the water because they depend on echolocation.

The institute will not know the problem until it sees results from the necropsies. It did two necropsies on Monday and have two planned Tuesday, Solangi said.

He also said the problem is probably severe because the dolphins swam close to 100 miles from their normal habitat. Four stranded dolphins could also mean more drowned before they reached land. Analysis on the stranded dolphins will offer clues.

“They’re like black boxes,” Solangi said.

Dolphin strandings are rare on the Mississippi Coast. But Solangi said the Pantropical Spotted Dolphin species has washed up on local shores at least once before.

The institute said someone reported the dolphins to its hotline on Sunday. Staff went to the island and collected photos and tissue samples, then brought the dolphins to the institute in Gulfport to analyze them.

The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies asked residents who spot stranded dolphins or sea turtles to call its stranding hotline at 1-888-SOS-DOLPHIN (1-888-767-3657).

This story was originally published November 26, 2024 at 8:50 AM.