VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Two dolphins have washed up on beaches in Virginia Beach Friday, one on Chic’s Beach and another that washed up on the beach in Sandbridge, the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team has confirmed.
The Stranding Response Team “has collected the animals and brought them to our stranding facility, the Darden Marine Animal Conservation Center, for a postmortem exam and assessment,” an Aquarium spokesperson said.
Virginia Beach dispatch said the dolphin that washed up at Chic’s Beach washed up in the area near the 2500 block of Beauford Avenue. WAVY viewer Claudine Vitti captured the dolphin (below photos) that washed up there.
WAVY viewer Stephanie Hannay sent photos of the dolphin that washed up on Sandbridge Friday afternoon, seen below.
WAVY has reached out to the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center Stranding Response Team to find out more.
Beachgoers in Sandbridge described what they saw.
“I thought it was like a boogie board out in the water, and then I saw the white part, and then I thought it was a stomach of a dolphin, and then I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it is a dolphin,” said beachgoer Lexie Hannay.
Another beachgoer, Adrian Underdue, also saw the stranded dolphin.
“It’s really rare,” Underdue said. “It’s kind of like a nice occurrence. It’s different, but then it got kind of sad. It was tragic, really, but people jumped to help.”
If people encounter a sea turtle or marine animal that is injured, dead, entangled or is otherwise in distress, they are asked not to approach the animal or give aid without expert guidance, and to contact the Stranding Response Team’s 24-hour hotline at 757-385-7575.
