© Dorothy Edwards | The Virginian-Pilot
From right, Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team members Krystle Rodrique of Virginia Beach, Va. and intern Liz Schell of Durango, Co. carry a deceased male dolphin on a metal stretcher from Ocean View Beach in Norfolk, Va. on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013. This was their third dolphin retrieval of the day.
The number of dead dolphins that have washed ashore this year in Virginia reached 100 over the weekend.
Since Thursday, 13 dolphin corpses have been recovered in the state, bringing the total for 2013 well above the typical 64 found annually by the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team.
Some of the dolphins have been severely decomposed, making it difficult for marine biologists to understand what is causing the die-off.
"We get calls from people who see them floating, but we don't have the equipment to track them down," said Joan Barns, spokeswoman for the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center. "Unfortunately, there are probably more dead dolphins out there, but they just haven't landed yet."
According to marine biologists, dolphin strandings peak in May and June. But this year, 44 dolphins were found dead on Virginia beaches in July, most in the southern part of the Chesapeake Bay. On average, only six or seven dead dolphins are picked up by the team in July.
