TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- The head of a marine mammal rescue group says he's afraid the last five dolphins who have been staying in two Jersey shore rivers since June may be dead.
Bob Schoelkopf, co-director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, says increasing ice in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers, coupled with the fact that no one has seen the dolphins since Thursday, indicates they may have perished.
Schoelkopf says when he last saw the bottlenose dolphins last Tuesday, they looked emaciated and weak.
"I don't think they're alive anymore,'' he said Monday.
``They haven't been seen since Thursday, and the ice started freezing then. We probably won't see them until the spring when they wash up somewhere.
``The last time I saw them, they were in such a weakened condition, so thin, that I can't see how they would have survived,'' he said.
A spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has jurisdiction over the animals, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday afternoon.
Schoelkopf has been the loudest voice calling on federal wildlife officials to authorize an intervention to get the dolphins out of the river and back out to sea.
But NOAA says trying to coax or scare the dolphin from the river is risky and probably won't work.
The agency says it believes the dolphins are trying to expand their habitat, something that shouldn't be interfered with even if it means letting them die.
A pod of 16 dolphins showed up in the two rivers in June, thrilling onlookers as they frolicked in the waves and gorged themselves on plentiful bait fish.
Three of the dolphins have died already. Federal officials say it is possible the other eight dolphins may have left the rivers on their own, but caution there is no way to know for sure.
As soon as the dolphins appeared in June, Schoelkopf began calling for a rescue attempt, citing the 1993 case of four dolphins who drowned in the Shrewsbury when ice closed in on them and a rescue attempt that he considers too late actually chased them under the ice.
Dolphins must surface periodically to breathe air.
TM & Copyright 2009 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO & EYE Logo TM & Copyright 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. TheAssociated Press contributed to this report.
Money Markets and More for Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Snow in Washington, D.C., puts some testimony of interest to Wall Street on hold. Staying connected can cost you; many consumers are spending a bundle on electronics. Did e-tailers get a boost from holiday shoppers?
E-Mail Story
Print Story
