Galveston, TX - The Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network responded to two separate stranding events across the Texas coast this month, resulting in the deaths of a rare melon-headed whale and a chronically ill bottlenose dolphin.

Between Aug. 1 and Aug. 2, responders mounted an operation from Galveston to Port Aransas to assist a stranded melon-headed whale (Peponocephala electra).

The species is a deep-diving offshore marine mammal that is rarely encountered near shore.