Hatched

Chapter Six

June 29th, 2021

0830 hours

Robyn affixed the last strip of security tape to one of the poles she'd tapped into the sandy ground, the yellow stark against the pale drifts. There wasn't a lot of traffic milling about the scene, which was good. There had been a few tourists posting videos of the dolphin when she'd arrived, but they left willingly when asked, for which she was grateful.

Hopefully, they wouldn't have much contamination to contend with, which meant they might be closer to identifying the cause of death for these majestic creatures. Month to date this was the third dolphin that had become beached, and, like the others, this one appeared to have been in perfect health.

It was uncommon for them to wash up on shore, but dolphins were usually intelligent, and it was unnerving to Robyn that they were suddenly showing signs of distress. She imagined it was environmental factors: over-fishing and pollution, as well as climate change, were affecting species' populations on a global scale. Robyn didn't portend to neglect this fact while researching this new development. She'd undertaken the project as part of her graduate thesis. While the project gave her plenty of material to work with, she wasn't any closer to discovering any answers.

This specimen, from what she could tell, was a mature adult male. There were no signs of struggle or injury, but it would have to be moved to the lab and necropsied. Robyn sighed and ran a gloved hand over the rough skin: it was not smooth, as portrayed in Hollywood. It was thick and tough, formidable and strong. The surface was already warm from the sun, but the internal temperature when she inserted a thermometer indicated some time had passed since it died. Not long enough, however, for scavengers to have touched it. She estimated a few hours, at most.

Robyn needed to process the scene and transport the animal quickly. She unzipped the fanny pack around her waist, retrieving several clear vials, and quickly began taking samples from the soil and epidermis as delicately as she could given the time constraints.

She barely registered what she was doing, her mind far more focused on getting it done than observing what she saw. It wasn't in her nature to work like so, but then, she had never processed a beached dolphin when it was so hot, and the temperature would start to jeopardize the remains.

"I'll look into these later." She grumbled to herself, and after dumping the vials into her bag, she reached into her equipment pack and began taking out tension cables.

"Zach." She called over the noise of the surf, unfolding a thick blue tarp. "Help me get the tow straps around him."

"Sure, Birdie." Zach grinned, blond highlighted spikes of hair glinting in the sun.

"You know I hate that." She chastised teasingly, a grin forming on her tan face. While it agitated her, his nickname for her was sweet and gave the sense she belonged somewhere. It wasn't a feeling she had often, especially after all that happened to her. It wasn't flirtatious, however, and up to this point they enjoyed a brotherly, sisterly sort of relationship. Neither had siblings, and bonded rather well in that respect.

They each grabbed an end of the strap and began meticulously wiggling it up under the flukes of the animal. When they had it securely around the peduncle, just behind the dorsal fin, they began doing the same under the head, adjusting this line just behind the pectoral fins. The animal was heavy, and it took several moments between the two of them. Robyn's arms strained from the effort. She wiped her brow, beads of sweat trailing from her hairline into her eyes. She blinked the salty sting from them and gazed sadly at the dolphin.

Zach did the same, silently giving tribute to the poor, magnificent creature.

"Okay, where are the stakes?" Robyn glanced around the stained earth.