Who’s whacking the dolphins?
A highly fishy murder spree may be unfolding off the Florida coast as two of the bottlenose sea creatures were found apparently shot in the same week, officials said Wednesday.
Wildlife workers flipped when they discovered the first dolphin fin-ito — with a bullet hole blasted into the left side of its head — in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola Beach last week, according to a press release from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The stunning discovery of the rubbed-out water creature came not long after another one of the majestic mammals was found shot, or possibly speared, to death near Naples several hundred miles away, the officials said.
The animal was apparently taken out execution-style, as it was found with a large round hole in the right side of its head, below its eye.
The agency is offering a $20,000 reward for tips leading to an arrest.
“These cases can rarely be solved without the public, people coming forward and saying they might have seen something, and we can follow up on that,” Tracy Dunn, assistant director of NOAA’s Southeast law enforcement division, told USA Today.
The dolphin slaughterings come less than a year after one of the animals was found slaughtered nearby on Captiva Island in May, according to the press release.
Biologists believe the deaths may be partially caused by people feeding the animals, potentially attracting them to humans and placing them in close proximity to hunters or fishermen.
NOAA officials didn’t immediately return The Post’s request for comment.
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