Just a week after a 35-foot Fin whale washed ashore in Malibu, two dolphins were found dead on two beaches further north.
A year-old female Risso's dolphin was discovered at Broad Beach and an adult Long-Beaked common male dolphin was found at Leo Carrillo Beach in Malibu on Monday, according to Cindy Reyes, executive director of the California Wildlife Center.
Reyes said she performed a necropsy on the Risso's dolphin, but a cause of death could not be determined.
"Any number of things can happen to a young animal in the wild," Reyes said, adding that she took some blood samples that will be analyzed for toxins.
She said the young dolphin had been eating solid food and had some fish bones in the stomach.
The Long-Beaked common dolphin had been dead for quite a while, she said.
"All we could determine was its sex and age. It gets to a point where there is not much you can tell," Reyes said.
The California Wildlife Center responds to at least a dozen stranded dolphins along Malibu's beaches each year.
The 35-foot male Fin whale washed ashore further south at Little Dume on Dec. 3. The whale died of injuries from a ship strike and was towed out to sea a week later.
