A matured male striped dolphin was reported struggling in the surf in the shallow waters off Maui’s Ka‘anapali Coast.  Responders discovered the dead dolphin early Saturday morning. NOAA’s Pacific Islands Marine Mammal Response Coordinator David Schofield, with the assistance of a U.S. Coast Guard aircrew, retrieved the animal and transported it to Air Station Barber’s Point, on O‘ahu.  At Barber’s Point, HPU’s Marine Mammal Stranding Team took possession of the animal and transported it to the Ko‘olau Radiology Group for a CAT Scan.  A veterinarian, with the assistance of HPU’s Marine Mammal Stranding Team, performed a necropsy on the animal Saturday evening with inconclusive results.  Samples have been sent to a mainland laboratory for further testing.  Results are not expected back for several months.

In 2006, HPU became a participant in NOAA’s Pacific Islands Region Stranding Network under the director of HPU Assistant Biology Professor Dr. Kristi West.  In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA), HPU’s assigned response area consists of the main Hawaiian Islands, but upon request by NMFS, HPU may assist in the stranding response outside of its assigned response area.

The purpose of the agreement between NOAA Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO) and HPU is to provide for rapid response and investigation of stranded marine mammals within the Pacific Islands Region.  The agreement allows for the facilitation of the collection and dissemination of reference data on the health of the marine mammals and health trends of marine mammal populations in the wild; the correlation of the health of marine mammals and marine mammal populations in the wild with available data on physical, chemical, and biology environmental parameters; and the detection and coordination of effective responses to unusual mortality events.

Hawai‘i Pacific University is the state’s largest private university with more than 8,000 students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries.