MOSSEL BAY NEWS - On Sunday, 3 April, the Stranded Marine Animal Recue Team (S.M.A.R.T.) in Mossel Bay received notification of a dead dolphin on the beach at Kleinkrantz in Wilderness. Wilderness NSRI carried the carcass away from the sea to enable a necropsy to be done.
Specialist Dr Greg Hofmeyr arranged to travel to Kleinkrantz on Monday, 4 April, to perform a necropsy on the dolphin with some S.M.A.R.T. volunteers assisting to further their learning.
It was determined that the animal was a bottlenose dolphin, a young male, not having fully matured yet.
The necropsy involved taking many measurements of the carcass, counting its teeth and dissecting it in the finest detail so as to take samples for research and possibly find the reason for the death.
This involves looking at the animal's heart, lungs, pancreas, intestines, liver, stomach and the contents thereof.
In this case no external injuries were found and no reason for death could be determined on the scene, apart from an enlarged pancreas which could not be ruled as a reason for death.
Further investigation will be done from the samples taken by Dr Hofmeyr and his team at Bayworld Oceanarium in Port Elizabeth.
Call S.MA.R.T. (072 227 4715) if you find a stranded marine animal on the coastline.
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