`` I ca n't explain why anyone would shoot a dolphin , '' a NOAA official says . In at least two previous cases , fishing charter captains have been found guilty of shooting at dolphins that approached their boats or the fish their passengers had hooked , NOAA says . The dolphins are not being killed for their meat, but to protect the endangered species from poachers, who have been killing them in large numbers since at least 2004. Two earlier prosecutions involved fishing charter captains .
`` I ca n't explain why anyone would shoot a dolphin , '' a NOAA official says . The dolphins are not being killed for their meat, but to protect the endangered species from poachers, who have been killing them in large numbers since at least 2004. Two earlier prosecutions involved fishing charter captains .