INHUMANE

Dolphin Washes Up Ashore in Fort Myers After Fatal Stabbing

The dolphin appeared to have been impaled in the head while being illegally fed. Wildlife officials said it was stabbed while in an unnatural “begging position.”

The violent death of a bottlenose dolphin in Florida is currently under investigation by wildlife officials. Authorities found the deceased mammal—an adult lactating female—on a beach in Fort Myers with stab wounds to its head on March 24. According to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, the “characteristics of the wound” led them to suspect that the dolphin was stabbed while in a begging position, which the agency described as “not a natural behavior for dolphins” that is “frequently associated with illegal feeding.” Experts say illegal feeding leads dolphins to associate humans and human things like boats with food, which can turn dangerous. “Dolphins fed by people learn to associate people, boats, and fishing gear with food, which puts dolphins and people in harmful situations.” According to the dolphin’s necropsy, it was “impaled in the head with a spear-like object while alive.” The incident marks the 27th dolphin to wash up ashore after being shot by a gun or an arrow, or impaled with a sharp object, since 2002.