SeaWorld Staff Finds Sixth Dolphin in Six Days Stranded in Florida Lagoon

Sunburned and stranded, a 350-pound bottlenose dolphin was discovered Thursday in a thick bed of seagrass located in shallow water at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida Today reports.

First spotted by a kayaker, SeaWorld Orlando staff responded to the call, venturing out in kayaks of their own to rescue the adult male measuring 8 feet long.

"The top half of its body was out of the water," Teresa Mazza, research assistant with Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute in Melbourne Beach, told the local news outlet, causing a "pretty serious sunburn on his back."

To keep the animal cool and protect it from the sun, the staff put a sheet over its back, at which point SeaWorld Orlando's Animal Rescue team, also responding to the call, transported it back to the company's marine mammal medical facility in Orlando.

Two days later, the dolphin is in a stable condition and eating, leading officials to remain "cautiously optimistic," according to Mazza.

In terms of why the animal was found in shallow water, Mazza said the staff suspects it wasn't an accident, reporting that the dolphin was sick, though it remains unclear what was wrong with him beyond the burn.

Since Jan. 1, SeaWorld has responded to 47 stranded dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon, about twice the usual rate, Florida Today further reports, with Thursday's representing the first live animal thus far.

Unlike the most recent case, most have been emaciated, prompting federal wildlife officials to investigate the series of mysterious deaths.

"Right now, we haven't found anything to link them together," Mazza said of this year's cases. "We've had six animals in the last six days."

Meanwhile, a manatee calf the team rescued in the same area several weeks ago appears to be doing well, having grown to 63 pounds while boasting a healthy appetite. The only strange behavior exhibited by the one month old, according to My Fox Orlando, is a slight obsession with covering her eyes.

Whether or not the calf will be able to survive in wild, however, remains unclear.