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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.
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