next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
HALIFAX HERALD, Wednesday, August 9, 2006 PHOTO: A decomposed dolphin, found by the owner of East River Campground and Trailer Park, has been identified as the source of a bad smell in the area.(Contributed) Dolphin carcass source of bad smell By ASHLEIGH McKENNA Call it one stinky mystery. A funny smell and a week of trying to find it led a Sheet Harbour man to a dead dolphin washed up on shore. Jack MacDonald, owner of the East River Campground and Trailer Park, said Monday he finally stumbled across the dead animal in a cove near his office that morning. "I never saw anything like that before," he said of his 19 years at the campground. The dolphin was nearly four metres long and already quite decomposed and covered in flies, he said. He guessed it might have been struck by a boat because of a noticeable scar on its side. Mr. MacDonald has been unable to place campers near the area for the last week because of the smell but he hadnıt been able to find the source, he said. After he found the carcass, he called the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the RCMP to find out what to do with it. An RCMP officer made inquiries and discovered the onus was on the municipality to remove the remains. The carcass was still on Mr. MacDonaldıs property Tuesday afternoon. "Itıs getting so you canıt stand the smell of it over there," he said. Area councillor Steve Streatch said Tuesday he had never heard of a dolphin being in the area and wanted to find out what happened. "Absolutely the municipality wants to co-operate in whatever way we can to help the operators of this campground and get this tidied up as quickly as possible," he said. Mr. Streatch said he has asked staff to visit the scene and they would arrive today to make the necessary arrangements. Mr. MacDonald was relieved to hear the news. "Thatıd be great," he said after learning that workers should arrive today. "I just want to get rid of that thing, itıs stinking so bad." Tonya Wimmer of the Marine Animal Response Society stopped by Monday evening to examine the dead animal. It was already too decomposed to perform a full necropsy but she did take skin and tooth samples to confirm the species and age, she said Tuesday. "It was quite a ways up the river, so that was a bit surprising," she said. "Weıve never had reports of a dolphin up a river there, and people locally hadnıt heard of seeing one in that area before." Ms. Wimmer said the animal was male and likely an adult Atlantic white-sided dolphin. It was impossible to tell if it had died in the river while following fish or simply washed up on shore, but as many as 10 dolphins wash up on Nova Scotia shores each year, she said. ( amckenna@herald.ca)
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects