The view downriver from the Oceanic Bridge, the route the remaining dolphins would need to travel to reach the Shrewsbury River and, ultimately, Sandy Hook Bay.
Federal marine experts this afternoon outlined two acoustics-based approaches to moving the remaining bottlenose dolphins out of the Navesink River before they become stranded inland for the winter.
Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said they’ll first trying luring the animals out to Sandy Hook Bay, and possibly out to sea, using a prerecorded sounds of other dolphins feeding and interacting socially.
Plan B, should the “pied piper” effort fail, would be to herd the animals by broadcasting disturbing sounds upriver of the pod, driving it downriver.
A third option, of capturing the individual pod members, is also under consideration, though the experts said the risks there would be greater both for the animals and the humans involved.
At the moment , though, no firm timetable for any removal effort is in place, they said. It will depend on the health conditions of the dolphins, the availability of prey, water temperatures, and the relative location of other bottlenose migrating south in the Atlantic Ocean, said spokeswoman eri Frady of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service.
“The seasons are changing, and we would expect the dolphins in the Navesink to leave soon,” said Frady. “However, should they need to be moved, we certainly want to do that while they are still fit and have a good chance of surviving.”
Dolphins on the lee side of the Oceanic Bridge on July 9, two days after they were first spotted in the Navesink.
A telephone press conference today followed a phone meeting between NOAA officials and outside experts about the general outlines of an intervention and what might trigger it, Frady said.
“We have not set a specific date or decided if we will do a herding, but if we do it, it will happen soon, probably within the month,” she said.
Stepped-up monitoring of the remaining 7 to 10 animals will start next week, and will include extensive photographing to help determine their health conditions.
The pod, which was first reported in the Shrewsbury River on Father’s Day and moved into the Navesink near the Oceanic Bridge on July 7, was officially estimated to include 16 members this summer. Except for two juveniles that were found dead in the past two weeks, the scientists said they don’t know where the other dolphins went.
Both the luring approach, which one expert said has not been widely used, and herding plans would require the use of boats and equipment strung across the southern access of the Shrewsbury River to prevent the dolphins from going farther away from the bay. Once scientist called it “a wall of sound.” Far fewer vessels would be used in the luring approach, however.
The experts also agreed it would be “helpful” if no pile driving or other heavy construction noise was present at the site of the Highlands-Sea Bright Bridge reconstruction project, and said they are coordinating with other agencies to make that possible.
Introducing a note of caution, however, Brandon Southall, an ocean acoustics specialist at NOAA, said that “it’s possible the animals could ignore both [luring and herding] signals and that neither is going to work. We’ve had past situations where the animals don’t do what you’re trying to get them to do.”
Another scientist said that while panic among the animals is possible, the herding approach would be designed to avoid that outcome.
Herding has been commonly used in the Cape Cod area and elsewhere in New England to head off imminent mass strandings, the experts said. But they added that this case is unusual given the distance the dolphins have traveled upriver and the fact that they appear to have set up house on the lee side of the Oceanic bridge.
“I think it makes it somewhat more difficult,” said Southall. “They’ve been living and feeding there for some time.”
The stocks of menhaden in the river remain abundant, fishermen tell redbankgreen.
As for the rationale of intervening, Randy Wells, a senior conservation scientist and dolphin research program manager for Chicago Zoological Society & Mote Marine Laboratory, said dolphins are highly adaptable to changing prey conditions and location. But animals sometimes make mistakes and need to be put back on the right track, he said.
Holy crap, if it were a herd of homeless people, you guys would let them starve and drown. Move on to something more productive. I don't see you relocating deer and there is a freshly killed deer almost every day I drive out of town. I've got an idea, why don't you call Obama, he could walk out there and ask them to leave.
Tell them timmy is trapped in a cave and the tide is rising and he may drown. It worked on Flipper. I'm just sayin, you know.
I'm told that Sea Tow is using them to tow stranded boats into the harbor when a storm is coming. This has not been confirmed.
Aw, come on, you cynics. Don't you remember when Fair Haven's finest got a lot of great press for saving a few dogs out of the river in the last few years? Extending a hand to our dorsal-finned or 4 legged pals is okay do do every once in awhile. It's what makes us human. Let's root for the rescue…and then get back to the reality of watching our stocks sink.
How much will this rescue plan cost the taxpayors?
These Dolphins apparently are not the bright ones. Should we be mwssing with naturual selection?
The Ledger's Sept. 28, "Dolphin issue is puzzling"is not so puzzling. If the Ledger had followed local news and NBC's accounts on the plight of the Shrewsbury River Dolphins from it's conception, the Ledger would not be so befuddled.
Now that the disturbance from the demolition of the Rte. 36 Highlands Sea Bright Bridge is almost concluded, an estimated nine 54-inch piles will be driven into the river off the Highlands coast. Now 16 pier structures will require pounding of anywhere between nine and 24 piles each for the project.
All summer Highlands residents' complaints to State and Federal officials (funding the project) have fallen on deaf ears. The shaking chandeliers in homes, the noise from dawn to dusk, the poorly planned traffic grid and the disturbances are documented with officials and the bridge contractors.
You needn't be a rocket scientist to figure out that if this turmoil is disturbing to the residents on land that the dolphins with their sensitive sonar surely are going to avoid at all costs the under water disturbances, vibrations and noise. The new pile drivings surely will drive these wayward mammals back into inland waterways.
USC§§ 1362 defines "Stranding" as an event in the wild in which a dead marine mammal
is on a U.S. beach or shore or in U.S. waters; or an alive marine mammal is on a U.S. beach
or shore and either is unable to return to the water or is in need of apparent medical attention, or is in U.S. waters and unable to return to its natural habitat without assistance.
Section 1379 states that
"Where feasible, a marine mammal must be returned to its natural habitat."
It is about time and long over due for the Federal and State officials, to stay further bridge construction disturbances obstructing the only escape route the pod has to open waters and their survival.
With the river's food supply dwindling and water temperatures dropping, this is a matter of life and death for the Shrewsbury River dolphins
great. we have a federal law dealing with stranded Marine animals.
I'm glad our elected officials have so much time on their hands.
Maybe they could figure out how to rescue us.
C J Give me a break. You have to be one of the dopey people against the bridge. Your using the dolphins to further your hopeless cause. USC 1355 states that " using dolphins to stop government funded bridge projects is unlawful." Nice try though. Why don't you kayak out there and play dolphin whisperer. Let them know that they don't drive pilings at night. Since they swim almost 30 miles per hour, they should make the run in about 15 minutes, swimming at a moderate pace. They don't drive the pilings all night long, so you have a 12 to 15 hour window of escape. Lastly, isn't the water a dolphins natural habitat.
I can see how the construction would scary them, but what about the other 16 hours of the day. just saying, they dont hammer away 24hrs a day. whatever, I hope they leave or they get them out and go away.
Eric Cartman, "i like dolphins, on my sandwich with mayo"
Well if all else fails I hear fresh dolphin makes a great tuna sandwich.