4 More Dolphins Found Dead At Shore

Four more dolphins have been found dead on New Jersey beaches, bringing the total to 25 since July 9.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that one dolphin was found dead Thursday in Ocean City. On Friday, two were found dead in Avalon and another in Lower Township.

The state Division of Fish and Wildlife has been working with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine to try and determine why so many dolphins are dying.

Officials say four of the 25 died of pneumonia.

Morbillivirus, a naturally occurring virus linked to the deaths of 90 dolphins in 1987 off New Jersey, has been confirmed in one of the recovered dolphins.

Federal officials are looking into the apparently larger-than-normal number of dolphin deaths in various mid-Atlantic states.