Man Cited For Feeding Dolphin

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. -- A captain of a Merritt Island pontoon boat
tour got a $321 ticket for allegedly feeding a dolphin in the Banana River.

Officers cited Donald Quinn, 51, of Brevard County, captain of the
vessel, Fish Tales, at about 1 p.m., at the Barge Canal locks, Local
6 News partner Florida Today reported.

An undercover officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission filmed Quinn and a passenger on the 24-foot-long boat feeding menhaden baitfish to the dolphin, said Lenny Salberg, an officer with the commission.

Quinn's ticket was for interfering with a dolphin's normal activity,
a second-degree misdemeanor.

The passenger who also fed the dolphin was not cited.

"They didn't know. They were tourists from Pennsylvania," Salberg said.

Quinn declined to comment.

"He's brand-new," said Peter Wallace of Rockledge, owner of Fish Tales.

"He didn't know what the rules were, which isn't any excuse," Wallace said. "It was his third trip. He's from Utah. He'd never seen a dolphin before."

Officers could have charged Quinn under a federal law that also bans feeding wild dolphin, which carries much stiffer penalties.

"That could go up to $5,000," Salberg said. "It could be as high as
seizing the boat."