Famous Begging Dolphin Found Dead

[Hum]

A dolphin known as "Beggar" for his tendency to approach boaters for food has been found dead, possibly as a result of his poor diet.

Beggar was found floating in the water near Albee Road Bridge on the Intracoastal Waterway in Sarasota, Florida, on Friday (Sept 21). His body was partially decomposed, making it impossible to determine the exact cause of death. However, the dolphin's digestive tract contained fishing hooks, squid beaks (not usual prey for dolphins in the area) and ulcers, suggesting that humans may have contributed to his demise.

According to the Mote Marine Laboratory, for the past 20 years, Beggar has been hanging out in the area where he was found dead. He was known to approach boats looking for food. During 100 hours of observations over several months in 2011, researchers with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program observed Beggar interacting with humans 3,600 times. People tried 169 times to feed Beggar an impressive range of 520 foods, including beer and hot dogs. On 121 occasions, boaters tried to pet the dolphin. Nine times, they were bitten for their efforts.

Over the years, the dolphin became a poster child for why feeding marine wildlife is illegal. The behavior put Beggar at risk of getting hit by a boat, Mote reported, and other dolphins seemed to learn his bad behavior by watching him.

It is illegal under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to feed or pet wild dolphins. Punishments include up to $100,000 in fines and up to one year in jail per violation.

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[Brandon]

Lol. Feeding dolphins beer. I wonder what a drunk dolphin would act like

[Hum]

I blame McDonald's

[Nothing Here]

I blame Taco Bell.

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

I blame the researchers with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program .

[remixedcat]

blame canada

[Growled Member]

Poor Beggar never heard the phrase that too much of anything is bad for you.....especially junk food.

[Hum]

I wonder why the dolphin didn't follow instinct, and 'fish' for it's own food.