A sick dolphin washed up on Jones Beach and died while being transported to a rescue center on Long Island Tuesday, officials say.
The 9-foot male bottlenose dolphin was discovered on the beach at about 12:30 p.m. Workers from the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation responded, and the dolphin died en route to Riverhead, at about 3 p.m., officials from the center said.
A necropsy will be performed on the dolphin at the Riverhead Foundation. Officials said there were external parasites on the tail on dolphin, indicating it had been debilitated or sick for a long time.
