More Dolphins Wash Up Along the Jersey Shore

More dolphins washed up dead this weekend along the Jersey Shore continuing a trend of dolphins deaths in recent weeks.

The bodies of three more dolphins washed up Sunday along the New Jersey shore, bringing the statewide total to 71.

The Asbury Park Press reports that officials found dead dolphins at Island Beach State Park, Stone Harbor and an area off the bay in Strathmere.

These deaths came a day after two more dolphins turned up dead in Sea Girt and Brigantine.

The senior technician with the Brigantine chapter of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, Jay Pagel, says it's the "same thing that's been happening" since July 9.

From New Jersey south to Virginia, more than 230 dolphin deaths have been reported dead. Although officials have said the dolphins appear to be dying from viral pneumonia, a precise cause is still unknown.

The deaths have been declared an "unusual mortality event" by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A bottlenose dolphin that washed up earlier this month test positive for morbillivirus, but officials said it was too early to tell if that is the culprit for the other deaths.

"We're not saying that this is a morbillivirus outbreak," Teri Rowles, NOAA's National Marine Mammal Stranding Coordinator, said at the time. "But because of the size of it right now, everybody's making that link at this point. But that is not a confirmed diagnosis or cause of this event at this point."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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