Dolphin dead after being shot multiple times in Louisiana, $20,000 reward offered for information

A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the identification of the man who fatally shot a bottlenose dolphin found riddled with bullets on a Louisiana beach last month.

The dead juvenile dolphin was spotted by a person March 13 on West Mae Beach in Cameron Parish, according to a statement released Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also known as NOAA.

The dolphin had “injuries comparable to those of a bullet fired from a firearm,” NOAA said.

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is investigating the dolphin’s death, the organization said.

After the dolphin was found on the beach, the animal was reported to the Southeast Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline, NOAA said. Then NOAA worked with a partner, Audubon Aquarium Rescue, which transported it to the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, for a necropsy, an autopsy of an animal, NOAA said.

The autopsy showed “several bullets lodged in the carcass, notably in the brain, spinal cord and heart of the dolphin. The animal appears to have died from trauma that occurred at or near the time of death,” according to NOAA.

The reward money is intended for “information leading to a criminal conviction or assessment of a civil penalty,” NOAA said.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the NOAA hotline at (800) 853-1964.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com