Dolphins Stranded for the First Time in Both Oceans of Costa Rica

Costa Rican experts are experiencing today for the first time the simultaneous stranding of dolphins in the coasts of its two oceans, scientific institutions reported.

A striped dolphin, (Stenella Coeruleoalba), appeared in the sands of Tambor, in Puntarenas (Pacific), while a pygmy killer whale (Feresa Attenuata) was found in Tortuguero (Caribbean Sea, Atlantic), researchers said.

“It is a very special situation. About 25 specimens strand every year, most of them in the Pacific, but the last one reported in the Caribbean was in 2020, during the pandemic,” commented Gabriela Hernández, from the National Service of Animal Health (Senasa).

When the cetaceans reach the coast,” marine biologist José David Palacios explained, “it could be due to age or disease, because they are weak and seek shallow waters to avoid predators, but the waves pull them to the beach.

Both specialists also agreed that this is the first time they have observed a pygmy killer whale stranding in the Costa Rican Caribbean.

Senasa personnel took charge of the bodies of the cetaceans, that died on the beach, to carry out the respective analysis, especially the striped dolphin.