Shark-Bit Bottlenose Dolphin Washes Up On The Jersey Shore

DEAL, NJ — A bottlenose dolphin was euthanized on Sunday after it was found with shark bites covering its body on a beach in Deal, according to a report from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC).

Deal Police received a call about the dolphin at 6:14 p.m. on Sunday, Captain William Hulse told Patch.

Once officers responded to the scene in front of the Deal Casino, Hulse said there were bystanders surrounding the dolphin and pouring water over it in attempts to save it.

From there, police contacted the Marine Mammal Stranding staff, who came down to assist with getting the dolphin off the beach.

“Deal First Aid and the Deal Fire Department came down as well,” Hulse said. “A lot of bystanders tried to help with the dolphin.”

In their report on the incident, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center said the dolphin (a subadult male) had no obvious illness, though he was “lethargic and not very responsive.”

A mostly healed scar was found behind a dorsal fin from a possible previous human or fishery interaction, though the center said they also found “numerous shark bites all over [his] body, several of which were quite severe."

In 2025 so far, the center has reported 18 bottlenose dolphin strandings, alongside eight common dolphins, three striped dolphins, and two unknown dolphins.

Of the 18 bottlenose dolphins stranded, none survived, according to the center's reporting.

The center is a member of the Greater Atlantic Marine Mammal Stranding Network and serves on “the front lines, working together with our fellow network members to help find the answers to marine mammal deaths,” according to their website.

At MMSC, the center is tasked with being the first responders to facilitate a necropsy to collect any samples that are viable based on the condition of the carcass.

“The work is grueling and dangerous, requiring a large team of people, each with a specific task, working together as safely and efficiently as possible to complete the examination,” the center said.

To learn more, you can visit the Marine Mammal Stranding Center website.