Four Dolphins Shot To Death in North County

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published June 15, 2007 at 10:57 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Four dolphins were found shot to death between Carlsbad State Beach and Oceanside over the Memorial Day weekend. Now federal officials are offering a reward to help find those responsible. KPBS report

Four dolphins were found shot to death between Carlsbad State Beach and Oceanside over the Memorial Day weekend. Now federal officials are offering a reward to help find those responsible. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has details.

Federal officials investigating the dolphin deaths say they've never seen this many wash ashore with bullet wounds.

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Mark Oswell is with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . He says the Long-beaked Common Dolphins may have been shot at the same time with the same gun.

Oswell : It may be a variety of people, it may be one individual, maybe several. In cases sometimes we have people just taking pot shots, a joy ride, the same sort of people that throw rocks at dogs and cats. Or sometimes it’s fishermen. Commercial or recreational fisherman that get in the way by dolphins pestering their catch.

He says anyone with information about the killings can call a 24-hour anonymous hotline: 800-853-1964.

Nationwide, the agency usually gets one report of a dolphin shooting a year. The last time San Diego reported such a death was five years ago. It's a violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act to harass or kill dolphins or any marine mammal.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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