Director Martin Scorsese’s 1972 crime epic The Godfather popularised the term “sleep with the fishes” to mean an ominous end for someone who fell foul of the Mafia.
A bottlenose dolphin in Louisiana suffered a similarly bleak demise after it was found on a beach shot to death, according to a notice by the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Fisheries Service on April 23.
The dolphin, a juvenile, was found on West Mae’s Beach in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, in March, said NOAA. A member of the public reported the sighting and the animal was transported to the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans for a necropsy, or animal autopsy.
“The necropsy revealed multiple bullets lodged in the carcass, including in the brain, spinal cord and heart of the dolphin.
“The animal appeared to have died from the trauma, which occurred at or near the time of death,” said NOAA, which did not say when the dolphin was estimated to have been killed.
The NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement has begun a probe and appealed to the public for any information about the dolphin’s death.
The agency is offering a US$20,000 (S$27,250) reward for information leading to a criminal conviction or the assessment of a civil penalty in the dolphin’s death, and those with information are asked to call its enforcement hotline.
Under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act, it is a crime to hunt, harass, capture, kill, or attempt to do so, any marine mammal, including dolphins. Offenders face up to US$100,000 in fines and up to one year in jail for each offence.
