this is so effed up!!! Why in the world would anyone want to take target practice on a Dolphin? If I ever find out who is responsible for this cowardly act, a beat down will be issued. I sure hope it wasn't someone involved with BD..
SAN DIEGO -- The first dead dolphin washed ashore with lacerations on its pectoral fin. The next showed up with a fatal bullet wound. Within a week, there were three more with bullets in their heads.
Federal officials investigating the five dolphin deaths in San Diego County said they've never seen this many wash ashore with bullet wounds. Nationwide, the agency usually gets one report of a dolphin shooting a year. The last time San Diego reported such a death was five years ago. Before that there hadn't been one in the area since the 1960s.
The long-beaked common dolphins were all discovered between Carlsbad State Beach and Oceanside Harbor between May 29 and June 5. Photos showed their normally sleek gray skin mottled and stained with blood from the bullet wounds.
"This was so unusual," said Kerri Danil, a National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration biologist who worked on the necropsies. "With each one I thought that was going to be it, so I was really surprised when we got other calls with injuries indicative of bullet wounds."
Necropsies revealed that the dolphins, which were healthy with bellies full of fish, may have been shot at the same time with the same gun. Four had between one and three bullets of the same caliber in the same part of their heads.
"It usually turns out to be a fisherman," said NOAA spokesman Mark Oswell, adding there have been cases when fishermen take out their frustrations on dolphins and other mammals that eat their catch.
This time, however, investigators are stumped. The agency is offering up to $2,500 for information on the deaths. If caught, the perpetrator could face civil penalties of up to $12,000 or a criminal fine of up to $20,000, as well as jail time.
Harassing or killing dolphins is a violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, a federal law that protects seals, sea lions, dolphins, whales and other marine mammals.
"It's a horrendous thing that happened," Oswell said. "That someone would go out there and shoot four dolphins ."
Anyone with information concerning the incident is urged to call NOAA investigators in San Diego at 619-557-5494 or the agency's 24-hour hot line at 800-853-1964.
5 Dead Dolphins wash ashore in Carlsbad 
:cussin g:
Nothin but love guys! 
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