The deceased dolphin gets carried from the water; credit: ABC 13 News Now
Drastic times call for drastic measures. At least they should. When a situation gets heavy — like, life or death heavy — the bureaucratic red tape takes a backseat to tangible, real-time action… right?
Over the weekend, a sickly dolphin in need of immediate medical attention washed into the breakwater off Virginia Beach, Virginia.
“You can see that its little tail had been cut up,” Ashlesha Modi told local ABC affiliate 13News Now. “It’s heartbreaking.”
Heartbreaking or not, emaciated and bloody it stayed. Despite a gathering crowd of onlookers, including the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team, no one stepped in to help. It’s not that no one wanted to; they were not allowed to. The hold up? The Stranding Response Team awaited mandated permission per the Marine Mammal Protection Act to step in. By the the time they finally received consent from the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), it was too late.
Would the dolphin be alive had the Stranding Response Team neglected federal law and immediately treated the dying animal? Hard to say. The poor water-doggie was reportedly in pretty bad shape. But life is precious and preserving it is worth bypassing bureaucratic bullshit. If a building’s on fire, you wouldn’t slowly walk down the stairs just because that’s what the sign says to do.
