Marine group: Distressed dolphin has died

Scientists for the Riverhead Foundation will conduct a necropsy on a male common dolphin found aground Friday off Adler Island, south of the Loop Parkway drawbridge, the marine group's program director said.

Boaters found the dolphin about 11:30 a.m., said Kim Durham of the nonprofit Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation. The group is expected to complete its forensic examination late Saturday, she said.

Durham said scientists think it is the same sick dolphin, about 6 feet long, seen swimming Wednesday in the Great South Bay.

She said a biologist with the Town of Hempstead identified cuts and scrapes on the dead dolphin that were seen on the distressed dolphin.

"We're pretty sure they are one and the same," Durham said.

The dolphin was swimming in circles and bobbing its head, generally signs of a distressed animal, Durham and other experts said this week.