|
Deepseawaters
Home NOAA and Partners Free Juvenile Dolphin
from Life-Threatening Debris
Northern Wildfire Smoke May Cast Shadow on Arctic Warming
July 2, 2008
 Members of the Southeast Regional Marine
Mammal Stranding Network successfully removed a black
rubber strap Tuesday that was wrapped around the head of a
juvenile bottlenose dolphin, averting a life-threatening injury.
In a coordinated effort, NOAA and network
members located the juvenile dolphin in the
Wilmington River, part of the intracoastal waterway near Savannah,
Ga., and removed the piece of rubber that had wrapped around
the area between its flippers and blowhole.
The team of scientists from NOAA, the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources, Savannah State University,
University of North Carolina at Wilmington, University of
Georgia Marine Extension, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
and others, began by carefully capturing the dolphin. An experienced
marine mammal veterinarian gave the animal
a complete physical exam and removed the rubber strap. The
dolphin was then released into the river.
“We launched a rescue effort for this dolphin
because the animal was entangled in marine debris and the
entanglement was life-threatening,” said Jenny Litz, a NOAA
Fisheries biologist. “As the dolphin was growing, the piece
of rubber was tightening around its body and could have lead
to infection.”
 This injury is an example of the growing
threat of marine debris to mammals and other animals in ocean
waters. Rope, plastic materials and other debris discarded
by humans can entangle, suffocate, starve and kill fish, turtles
and marine mammals.
NOAA works to address the problem of marine debris through
prevention and removal. NOAA-supported marine debris removal
projects are underway in coastal communities around the nation.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency
of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing
economic security and national safety through the prediction
and research of weather and climate-related events and information
service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental
stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources.
Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems
(GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than
70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global
monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it
observes, predicts and protects.
 Email To Friend
| 
