8 Dolphins Dead After People Try to Rescue Them at the Jersey Shore

A sad end to the drama on the sand in one Jersey Shore town.

All eight dolphins are dead that were beached in Sea Isle City, New Jersey, Tuesday afternoon, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.

Several dolphins were found stranded at 50th Street Beach. Nearby beachgoers and residents tried to help them by throwing buckets of water on them and covering them with blankets on the sand.

After many minutes on the sand, crews could be seen loading the dolphins onto the back of pickup trucks. They drove the dolphins a short distance to a box truck, where they transferred the dolphins into the back.

It appeared two other dolphins could be seen further up the beach in an area that was taped off with yellow tape.

According to the stranding center, two of the dolphins died on the beach while the other six were euthanized. All of them were in bad shape.

They are being taken to a state lab and necropsies will be performed.

This is the first time since the stranding center can remember that they've had a mass stranding of dolphins this large.

Experts are now trying to determine what made the dolphins sick. Avian flu, or bird flu, is one of the things they are testing for after the British government revealed that bird flu was found in two dead dolphins there.

So far this year there have been 20 dolphin deaths after stranding along the jersey shore.

"We've been...handling these animals and able to rescue so many of them for 45 years. And now we're helpless," Brigantine-based Marine Mammal Stranding Center Director Sheila Dean said.

Federal officials confirm they are also going to test some of the humpback whales that have been stranded along the east and west coast for bird flu as well. Previous tests on whales have come back negative for bird flu.

"This could be a big thing for all marine mammals. If this is what's happening," Dean said.

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