By Mark Prior
Published Aug 16, 2013 at 8:00 am

Back at sea: The lone dolphin spotted at Somerset Long Bay at the beginning of the
week swam eastward and has not been reported since.

Authorities are still on the lookout for the lone dolphin that was feared stranded in Somerset Long Bay.

Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo principal curator Ian Walker confirmed that no reports have been made regarding the dolphin, since it disappeared eastward from the bay Monday afternoon.

He hopes the dolphin made it past the Bermuda reef line by now.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned up, we are prepared to respond as needed,” he said. “But at this point we haven’t had any further feed back from any agencies or the public that the animal has been sighted or stranded.”

People were warned to stay away from the animal when it was seen swimming within three feet of the shore.

Representatives from Dolphin Quest, the Fisheries Department and the Bermuda Police Service, were prepared to assess the dolphin if stranded, in a pool that was constructed and left on-site.

“The way he was acting was unusual,” Dr Walker said. “There may be some other issue the dolphin has that may cause him to be stranded at a later date.”

Dr Walker said the situation “was not black and white, but grey” because of the difficulty of making a decision to care for the dolphin or not.

Dr Walker mentioned monitoring the dolphin was a team effort and was thankful to all the components involved.