A baby bottlenose dolphin found stranded on the Imperial Beach shoreline Wednesday died during transport before it could receive treatment, a SeaWorld representative said Thursday.
A necropsy examination, or animal autopsy, will be performed to determine the cause of death, said Booker Crenshaw.
"He was obviously very sick when we found him on the beach," Crenshaw said.
Dolphins may strand themselves because they are sick or injured, he said.
Imperial Beach lifeguard Captain Robert Stabenow said the four-foot long animal had blood on its nose and scrapes on its back when it was found Wednesday around 8:45 a.m. by a family walking the beach.
Lifeguards Ben Holt and Matt Chism responded to the report to find the dolphin beached in the sand. Attempts to return the dolphin to the ocean were unscuccessful as the it repeatedly tried to get back to the shoreline.
SeaWorld Animal Rescue arrived about an hour after lifeguards first contacted the animal.
Not a Marine myself, but grew up around them and UDT my entire life. Out of respect for the Corps I refuse to pretend to be something I have never personally EARNED as you have, so thank you for your service. Though you accurately discerned my screen name is indeed in honor of one of my highly decorated yet selfless USMC heros who had the guts to tell it like he saw it, which is why I chose him for a screen name (an obvious adaptation to those in the know). Yet, a more accurate description of my combat service would be as follows, similarly significant to those in the know: "With willing hearts and skillful hands; the difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. With compassion for others we build, we fight, for peace with freedom".