Mote Marine Laboratory announced Friday that Beggar the bottlenose dolphin was found dead near the Albee Road Bridge in Sarasota.
Beggar was one of the most studied dolphins in the world. He often approached humans and humans often approached and fed him. By feeding Beggar, people changed his behavior and put him at risk of boat strikes, while also changing the behavior of dolphins around him, according to a prepared statement.
A necropsy performed on Beggar by Gretchen Lovewell, manager of Mote's Stranding Investigation Program revealed no definitive cause of death, but revealed numerous indications of interactions with humans that caused his poor health, including various external wounds, some of which were caused by boats and multiple broken ribs and vertebrae.
He also showed signs of a poor diet. He didn't have much food in his stomachs but had three fishing hooks and small bits of line in his first stomach, two squid breaks (not a normal prey item for resident Sarasota Bay dolphins) and several ulcers of varying severity in his third stomach. Beggar was also dehydrated, possibly because he wasn't eating a normal human diet.
Dr. Katie McHugh, of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, spent 100 hours observing Beggar's behavior and the behaviors of boaters who interacted with him and documented 3,600 interactions between Beggar and humans — up to 70 per hour; 169 attempts to feed him 520 different food items, including shrimp, squid, beer, hot dogs and fruit; 121 attempts to touch him, resulting in nine bites to humans who did the petting.
Sarasota Dolphin Research Program Director Dr. Randy Wells said in a prepared statement that Beggar's death offers a stark reminder of why feeding wild dolphins is bad.
“By feeding Beggar, people reinforced the bad behavior that eventually played a role in his death,” Wells said. “Ultimately, it's human behavior that we need to change. We need to make sure that this pattern doesn't repeat itself with another dolphin.”
Contact Robin Hartill at rhartill@yourobserver.com.
Currently 1 Response
- 1.
- Its a shame he died, I love seeing the many dolphins we have here, but its also unfair to blame the public without any evidence. A proper scientist would not draw a conclusion without evidence. Surely keeping the public enjoying the treat of interacting with these wild creatures is good to keep public interest in them - a dolphin encounter is often a treasured experience, I think these encounters motivate boaters to be more cautious and take care. Surely dolphins locked up in theme parks doing stunts for food is far worse than living free with an occasional human interaction, the only definite damage in this report seems to be from poor fishermen discarding their hooks and lines!
- Jun
1 Floridafitfest and 5K Treasure Run
9:00 am - 4:00 pm - Jun
8 World Oceans Day Family Festival
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
-
Miller shares Longboat lore
05/22/13
David Miller gave the Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key a history lesson Thursday, May 16, when he shared his memories of early island life. -
Kiwanians get club recognition
05/22/13
The Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key recently received "Distinguished Club" status from Kiwanis International for its efforts during the 2011-12 year. -
Hat's off to Dee Pelton, volunteers
05/15/13
Dee Pelton held a luncheon that will be tough to top.
