Dead dolphin found washed ashore on Annapolis Roads beach

On Sunday, a dead dolphin was found on the shore of a beach in Annapolis Roads and has not yet been recovered.

Annapolis resident Ellen Morris said she was boating on Lake Ogleton when she saw the dolphin floating in the water. Morris said she tried to notify authorities, but the tide eventually carried the dolphin to a neighborhood beach on the Severn River near the mouth of Lake Ogleton.

The site where the dolphin washed ashore is near Una Schloder’s home. In a phone interview, Schloder said the dolphin’s skin was “burnt and scabby” and described the smell of the decomposing dolphin as “pungent.”

“(On Thursday) it was completely on the beach and still pretty bloated. Today it looks like it punctured something, so it’s less bloated,” she said. “The tide has come up a little bit, so it’s in the water now… I’m not sure if the tide will come up any more, if it will go away on its own or not, and then who knows where it will end up?”

Since Friday afternoon, turkey vultures have been swarming around the dolphin.

Morris and Schloder have both contacted the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, which runs the Stranded Marine Animal and Sea Turtle Response Program out of Oxford. The program typically responds to strandings of live or dead marine animals in Maryland waters.

The program did not respond to a request for comment.

“I literally posted tags, texted, posted everything on social media, called people and tried to get a response, but no one wanted to take responsibility for it,” Morris said of her efforts to remove the dolphin. “Everyone was like, ‘That’s someone else’s responsibility,’ and that’s basically how it is up until now.”

Both women expressed frustration over the lack of coordination and uncertainty about the deportation timeline.

“It’s so unusual for us to have dolphins in the bay, we’re always happy when we see them,” Morris said. “To find a dead dolphin of that size was very disturbing and upsetting.”