Dolphins Rally to Help One of Their Young in Trouble

A young dolphin in a “severely weakened state” was being kept alive in Santa Monica Bay on Wednesday by six other adult dolphins who have surrounded the sick mammal in an effort to keep her from beaching herself.

The ailing Pacific bottlenose dolphin, nicknamed “Bonnie” by marine conservationists, is suffering from an undisclosed ailment that, for the last 10 days, has kept the three-foot-long mammal and her flippered friends inside the surf line off Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades.

There is probably little human rescuers can do to save the dolphin because human intervention likely would further traumatize the ailing mammal, said Peter Wallerstein, director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a volunteer marine protection group.

“As long as the family is with her, there’s no need for human intervention,” Wallerstein said. “At this point, they’re keeping her afloat, kind of pushing her back and forth. But she’s in bad shape.

“They’ll keep shepherding her along as long as she needs help,” he added. “This is a great example of how these intelligent animals care for each other.”

Wallerstein said he swam out this week to check for traces of a gill net on the injured mammal. There was no trace of a net, but he said Bonnie had a limp dorsal fin, a possible indication of a birth defect.

“She could have been deformed at birth or possibly have been born with a weakened immune system,” he said. “There is a high mortality rate among dolphins in Santa Monica Bay due to pollution.”

The dolphins have been swimming near the shore about a half-mile north of Gladstone’s restaurant, at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Sunset Boulevard. Although dolphins often swim close to shore, they rarely remain in the same area for long unless they are injured, Wallerstein said.

Although there is little conservationists can do for the ailing mammal, Wallerstein said there is some concern that the adult dolphins might unwittingly beach themselves in the rescue attempt. If they did, rescuers would intervene to make sure the beached dolphins got back out to sea.

The sight of the circling mammals has attracted small crowds, but most beach-goers appeared unaware of the dolphins until television crews arrived Wednesday.