© ABC 7 News/KGO-TVA Risso's dolphin is stranded in the mud near San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016
A team from the center, along with the San Francisco Fire Department, retrieved the body of the dolphin Wednesday from the mudflats south of the airport, where the animal became stranded earlier this week.
An analysis of tissue and organ samples will help determine whether there was an underlying illness that caused the dolphin to stop eating. Risso's dolphins are rare visitors to San Francisco Bay. They typically make their home in the open ocean and travel in pods.
The adult male dolphin, about 10 feet long, was glimpsed circling in shallow water near the airport several times beginning Saturday, according to the center. The partially submerged creature could be seen struggling early Tuesday afternoon before going still.
Dr. Shawn Johnson, the center's director of veterinary science, said recovering the animal "presents an opportunity to learn more about this elusive species."
Adult Risso's dolphins can grow to roughly 12 feet in length. They have a rounded head and a tall dorsal fin. There are as many as 30,000 Risso's dolphins along the coast of Northern and Central California, according to the center. They are dark gray in color but typically covered in white scars, possibly from dolphin bites, squid bites or parasites, according to the American Cetacean Society.
Is this because the high toxicity of our oceans, and that there is no food left to support marine life in it, is being hidden from the public?