The view Saturday as the dolphin pod frolicked near McLoone’s. (Photos by Colleen Curry)
By COLLEEN CURRY
Beachgoers were not the only ones invading the Jersey Shore this weekend, as a pod of bottlenose dolphins was seen swimming and jumping up and down the Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers.
But authorities are concerned that gawkers in watercraft may get too close to the pod of deep-sea mammals.
“The juveniles in the pod have never before seen land, and the boats and jet-skis are very threatening to them,” Bob Schoelkopf of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine tells redbankgreen.
Boats and beachgoers alike crowded the edge of the river near McLoone’s Rum Runner, where the dolphins congregated most of Saturday afternoon.
“It’s very unusual for this time of year,” said Maggie Czarnezki, an employee of Sands Beach Club. “We just noticed them today, and we have no idea why they are here.”
A Sea Bright resident who’d been watching the mammals from his riverside home told redbankgreen he’d counted eight of them. “They swim up and down the river” between the Rumson-Sea Bright bridge and the Route 36 span from Highlands to Sea Bright, and sometimes venture ito the Navesink, he said.
Schoelkopf, though, said there are somewhere around 12 or 15 animals in the pod, which has been in the vicinity for about a week.
“We can never get a solid count because they’re never all above water at once,” Schoelkopf said.
And while he doesn’t know why they’re here, “they’re not stranded, they are free swimming,” he said.
The onlookers drawn by the unusual appearance is of concern to authorities. Over the weekend, the New Jersey State Police were on the scene, patrolling in two boats to keep jet skis and other vessels away.
“We don’t know if they’re confused or what, but they seem to get more confused by all the vessel traffic,” said Sgt. Robert Pohida of the State Police Newark Marine Station, which was handling the situation. “We’re going to try and keep the boats a safe distance from them, and then just wait and see what happens.”
With the nearing of the Independence Day holiday, experts are particularly concerned. The National Marine Fisheries Service and other authorities, including Schoelkopf’s nonprofit operation, have a conference call scheduled for 1p today to draw up an action plan.
In the meantime, “the National Marine Fisheries Service Law Enforcement Branch is up with them and will be issuing summons for harassment to dolphins — which can be up to $25,000 fine per boat,” Schoelkopf said. “This means whenever the dolphins have to divert their path or turn around to get away from the boats, that is harassment.”
The dolphins, he said, “are unfamiliar with vessels, and they are just getting more confused. So we’re asking that people look from land, and keep boats out of the water.”
I'm surprised at the jet skiers. Most PWC and jet ski riders are highly skilled watermen with great respect for the ocean, its denizens and the environment. They spend years honing their skills (press ignition button, go fast) before hitting the water and would never dream of getting in someone's way, man or beast.
mmm…I hear they make delcious sandwiches
Dolphins are such a loyal, smart, loving species. Much like us humans when we are at our best.
Even the dolphins are here to protest the destruction of the Sea Bright/Highlands Bridge
flipper, flipper, flipper, faster than lightning!
i found a pelican at sandy hook bout 20 years go.. after steppin on a couple a med waste needles……..
brought im to the lab, it was da nude beach
and i happen 2 know his beak can hold more than his bellican!
So true BFrank, so true.
I understand the various agencies are in the process of enacting a plan of action for safely removing the dolphins before July 4.
I was out there watching them in a friends boat for about 40 minutes. Yes there were some idiots that did not have their engines cut..
BENNYS AND BOATS DONT MIX - STAY ON THE BEACH PLEASE.
I'm what you would call a "Benny" from Union County. I've been coming to the shore all of my life and am respectful of all creatures, human and otherwise.
GK
Most of us who live here were once considered Bennys, Short sided memories fail to recognize that. My parents moved to Hazlet in 1959 (part of the first wave from the urban north) then to Holmdel in 1973. They were from Irvington and Newark. I am now approaching 50 years old. I was born in 1962 at Riverview. Am I a Benny? There are plenty of ill behaved individuals born and bred right here in Monmouth county. When will this Benny crap go away. I doubt the Benny (bayonne elizabeth newark and ny) has any interest in injuring animals. Folks get over this Benny stuff, one may be your next wife or husband. Embrace people wanting to come to where you live. It's pretty boring here in the winter. Although I could do without the adult children with winding rice burner bikes and the old mens Harley's making thunder around this time of year. I don't blame it on Benny's. As a born and raised Monmouth county resident living in Red Bank I never have bought into this protective, against the Benny attitude. It's like reading a page out of the tri-shit*y news. By the way most of the so called Benny camp travel to more southern areas than our precious Monmouth county. Leave the dolphins to figure this out for themselves.
Don't get all fired up about the "Benny" thing. If this "skute" character elects to bathe in ignorance, let him/her.
Maybe "skute" is not a hypocrite and has never enjoyed New York City or taken a flight out of Newark. And, perhaps this would explain why "skute" is a close-minded dope.
"mmm…I hear they make delcious sandwiches"
Make sandwiches? What porpoise would that serve?
Har.
Alexander…you are so spot on about those magnificent beasts. I also hear that on their down time from swimming they are visiting the elderly, operating a soup kitchen and running a summer swim camp for low-income urban kids.
They sure are super animals, if we, their 2 legged cousins could only be so noble
"It's pretty boring here in the winter."
Hell no it's not! That's the best time of the year. You can drive anywhere you want along the beach and you don't have to worry about a bunch of idiots from North Jersey clogging up the roads. The only drawback is that it's too cold to swim or hang out on the beach.
"When will this Benny crap go away?"
When the Bennies stop coming here.
As a life long summer resident to the Jersey Shore and now a full time resident of Red Bank one thing has become clear to me. Locals who refer to the folk from N Jersey as "Bennies" are usualy cut from the same low-brow boorish cloth and share many of the same sterotypical Benny habits. The only difference is one lives south of the bridge and has a false sense of superiority.
As unenlightened and pigheaded as people like "shipman" are, I can’t help but to chuckle. It's that very un-American sense of birth right that is typically associated with some form of nobility, but which is expressed in true form of an absolute yokel, that gives it humor. I suspect Sir "shipman" thinks federal and state tax dollars should protect his beaches from erosion, but these "Bennies" from Northern Jersey who help foot the bill should never set foot near his surf.
good point, shipman.
oops, i meant pk.
alexander a …… you said it great, this benny thing was born from envy from so called locals who think they own the town. They fail to realize we all came from some where else unless they are an american indian who was born here. envy reveals a deep self hatred of oneself and i think most of these haters dont like themselves because they have no personality because they are dead fom the assup and dont know how to enjoy life. so screw them and shipman screw you too . love your favorite red bank benny
O.K., I'm a displaced "Benny", and my kids who were all born in Red Bank are "clam diggers". Surprisingly, we all get along very well!
Actually "stop the hating . . . ", you are perpetuating a great myth and are dead wrong. We don't "all c[o]me from some where else" except American Indians who were "born here". While you're right about the destructive nature of envy, why do Americans feel obliged to maintain this PC myth, as though it matters at all? I was born here. So, I expect, were you. Does that make you less "from here" than, say, a Navajo who was born out west? Also, the original American Indian wasn't "born" here either. They migrated (best we can tell) from Asia. And lastly, if you were born elsewhere and moved to "here" before someone else who is "from here" was even born, who would you say is more "from here"? "Oh, what tangled webs [humans like to] weave".
that was funny padrone. you know what i meant here being america and born meant our families originally. heres the point all these people who feel they own monmouth county or the jersey shore are acting foolishly and the curse that should be bestowed upon them is their daughters should wind up marrying one of those so called bennys. if not that at least they should find out they at least got busy in the back of their caddy or mercedes , now thats funny. by the way padrone do you have a daughter
I thought this article was about dolphins. ?!
No "stop the hating . . .", that wasn't funny. Since you bill yourself as "stop the hating", it's a shame you didn't get the point at all. There is a lot more hate and bias floating around than most people would like to admit, and one of the sources of those feelings is the absurd emphasis we put on heritage and some perception of a non-existent past. "Who belongs where" and other cultural burdens give people reason to perpetuate hatred for each other. In a different article, there were even two or three guys calling each other out, ready to fight, over who knew more about Italian food! Pick up the paper any day and see how much suffering occurs because somebody feels more entitled due to historical events, religion, nationality or ethnicity. Sorry . . . it's not funny at all.
Does anyone know the time the dolphins are being spotted? I would love to take my 4 year old neice and get a couple of pictures please email me thank you
Hey, I'm no clam digger! Ridiculous. What a rude mother I have. Anyway, people in boats should really stay away from the dolphins.