Deceased dolphin washes ashore near Greenwich Bay
EAST GREENWICH, R.I. (WLNE) — A 9-foot bottlenose dolphin was found dead, washed ashore in East Greenwich, just steps from someone’s home.
Maria Brennan has lived near Greenwich Bay for the past 56 years and said she’s never heard of a dolphin washing up on a Rhode Island beach before, let alone her own neighborhood.
“I would love to have seen it, because I love dolphins, and I think that’s amazing that they would even come to these waters, this is a really historic neighborhood, too,” Brennan told ABC 6 News.
Mike Healey, spokesperson for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, said the dolphin washed up in beach grass not far from Greenwich Bay. Healey sighted the recent storm and super moon-generated tides as a possible explanation.
“I’m sad for the dolphin. I know he was in a sort of bushes and brush when he was found all decomposed. I’m sure all the residents here are sad to see this also, I think it’s sad,” Brennan continued.
As a lover of animals herself, Brennan said it’s heartbreaking to know that such a precious sea creature is dead nearby.
Healey said volunteer researchers from the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut came to check the dolphin out and estimated it’s been dead for roughly two to three weeks.
Despite the dolphin being close to houses on Bradford Avenue, Healey said it will not be removed because of its advanced level of decomposition and the difficulty of accessing the animal.
Healey said the department is going to “let nature take its course.”
Brennan, however, said she thinks it should be removed before it causes on uproar.
“Because everyone will be down here looking for the dolphin, bothering the neighbors and um, I think it’s the right thing to do,” she explained.
Healey said bottlenose dolphins are fairly common in Rhode Island coastal waters.
