The striped dolphin baby was alive when it was found on a beach in Puerto de Alcudia on the Spanish island Majorca. However, several tries by local authorities to pull the animal back into the water proved useless as it kept getting stranded all over again several times.
When the team from the Palma Aquarium arrived on the scene, they found the baby suffering from stranding syndrome – a rapid heartbeat, shaking and inability to remain in the water. Furthermore, it was alone which was another bad sign. The team ultimately decided for euthanization as the animal was evidently in a state that left it unable to survive at sea and they “were not leaving it to die suffering on the beach”.
Striped dolphins are a species most abundant off-shore. The team’s director assumes that the preceding bad weather might have been the reason for the animals stranding, since storms often lead to “the sea throwing up animals, dead or alive”. The team is currently waiting for the results of the forensic examination to find out more.
The report can be found here: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/baby-dolphin-euthanised-after-getting-22032633
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