9-foot sea creature found dead along NC creek had trash in its stomach, lab says

A dolphin found dead along a coastal North Carolina creek was killed after a discarded plastic bag got lodged in its stomach, according to experts at N.C. State University.

The discovery was made as researchers examined the bottlenose dolphin’s stomach contents at a lab on March 26, the university’s Center for Marine Sciences and Technology said in a March 29 news release.

“On Tuesday, March 25th, a large dead stranded offshore bottlenose dolphin was reported on the banks of Deep Creek in the Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve in Beaufort,” the lab reported.

“The dolphin was a very thin mature adult male, 9.3 feet long and 428 pounds. The necropsy ... revealed the probable cause of death: a large plastic bag remnant with a knot in the center in the dolphin’s stomach. No food items were found in the stomach.”

Bottlenose dolphins can grow to 13 feet and 1,300 pounds and live up to 60 years, OCEANA reports.

They are known to “accidentally eat plastic” after mistaking it for food “or swallow it while eating other things,” the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program in Florida reports.

“Plastic is everywhere in the food chain, and predators can eat plastic without knowing it when they catch their usual prey. Large plastic items can cause stomach or intestinal blockages, which can lead to starvation and death,” the lab reports.

The Rachel Carson Reserve is along the Back Sounds, about a 160-mile drive southeast from Raleigh.

This story was originally published March 31, 2025 at 7:29 AM with the headline "9-foot sea creature found dead along NC creek had trash in its stomach, lab says."