NOAA Law Enforcement Requests Assistance in Investigation into Dolphin Deaths
Intentional attacks on dolphins, documented in animal carcasses found throughout the Gulf Coast, have captured national attention over the last year. The savagery of the attacks has escalated recently, and because dolphins are a protected species NOAA Law Enforcement has assigned federal agents to investigate and stop further incidents.
NOAA Law Enforcement requests that anyone with information regarding intentional attacks on dolphins contact the agency through the NOAA Fisheries Enforcement Hotline at 1-800-853-1964. Folks can leave anonymous tips or identify themselves when providing details on incidents.
Numerous rewards have been offered from private parties for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in the attacks on dolphins.
• The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies has offered a $5,000 reward “fund to catch and convict the person or persons involved in these shootings and mutilations.” Read the announcement here: http://www.imms.org/dolphin_killings.php
• The Animal Legal Defense Fund has offered a $5,000 reward “for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator(s) who brutally slaughtered and mutilated dolphins off the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.” Read the announcement here: http://aldf.org/article.php?id=2225
• Ric O’Barry of the Earth Island Institute has offered a $5,000 reward “for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who has murdered these dolphins.” Read the announcement here: http://dolphinproject.org/blog/post/murder-on-the-gulf-coast
• Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has offered a $20,000 reward “for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for shooting and stabbing dolphins along the northern Gulf Coast of the U.S.” Read the announcement here: http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/2012/11/20/captain-watson-offers-20000-reward-to-help-apprehend-gulf-dolphin-killers-1466