Gallant Effort Made To Save Stranded Dolphin

ASSATEAGUE -- A dolphin that beached itself on Assateague last Sunday did not survive the trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore for potential rehabilitation, despite a massive public-private effort to save the creature.

“They had put a temporary canopy over the dolphin and had dug a moat around it and built a barrier out of sand to keep the surf, which was pretty heavy, from pounding it,” said Carson this week. “Kids and adults were taking turns getting buckets of water to keep it hydrated.”

A short time later, two Ocean City Beach Patrol guards arrived by wave runner along with a Coast Guard officer from Station Ocean City. An Assateague State Park ranger arrived shortly thereafter, along with local Debbie Quilter, representing the National Aquarium’s Marine Animal Rescue Program (MARP). Carson said it became clear the dolphin’s health was rapidly deteriorating and it needed to be taken off the beach and sent on its way to a possible rescue and rehabilitation.

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