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According to multiple reports, a necropsy performed by the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society has revealed that the dolphin was a sickly, adult female that measured more than six feet long and weighed approximately 250 pounds.
The dolphin's discovery near the Mount Vernon town line on Friday afternoon prompted Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas to speculate that pollution may have been a factor in the animal’s death.
“Since his time on the Council, Mayor Richard Thomas has been advocating that the City of Mount Vernon repair and replace its aging sewer system that has been polluting the Hutchinson River since at least 2003,” Maria Donovan, a spokesperson for Thomas, said in a statement. “Mount Vernon was placed under a consent order by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2003 for the environmental concerns caused by the city’s existing sewer system.
“However, the City Council and Comptroller Maureen Walker have failed to act. The Thomas Administration has negotiated an array of cost-effective solutions with the EPA; however, city officials have rejected all the efforts we presented to protect the environment.”
Preliminary results determined that the dolphin had lesions on her kidneys and had not eaten for some time. It is reportedly likely that the dolphin travelled from the Long Island Sound before dying and washing up in Westchester County.
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