WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) - An ailing dolphin that washed ashore at Carolina Beach has been euthanized.
Alex Costidis, a research associate with the marine biology department at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, said the 10-foot-long Risso’s dolphin had labored breathing as well as other signs of distress when she was found by a passerby around 6 a.m. Thursday.
Local veterinarian Claire Hohenwarter determined the dolphin was in poor condition. The dolphin was euthanized at the beach and transported to UNCW for a necropsy.
Costidis said Risso’s dolphins live in deeper waters and are not the bottlenose dolphins often seen in the ocean at sunrise and sunset.
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