Dolphins near the Oceanic Bridge in mid-July. (Photo courtesy of Mary Fenton)
The dolphin found dead on a bank of the Shrewsbury River in Sea Bright on Christmas was a pregnant female whose stomach was empty of food, according to a report from MSNBC.com.
Those were early findings of a necropsy conducted on the carcass of the animal at the University of Pennsylvania, according to reporter Brian Williams.
The female is the third known member of a pod of 16 to have died. The pod moved into the Shrewsbury in June and later took up residence in the Navesink River, several miles farther inland.
From the report:
Advocates have been worried since cold weather set in that there would not be enough fish in the two coastal rivers for the large pod to eat.
While initial necropsies on two other dead members of the pod discovered so far have found obvious signs of pneumonia, that was not the case with this Christmas Day female.
Bob Schoelkopf of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, New jersey tells nbcnewyork.com that “health assessments (of the remaining pod members) should be made by qualified marine mammal veterinarians.”
NOAA’s Marine Fisheries Agency has observers on the rivers, but has yet to say if it has sent veterinarians there to explore their health.
The federal agency, which has legal jurisdiction over the animals, decided this Fall against a rescue effort, believing that wild animals should be allowed to survive on their own.
Advocates for the dolphins argue that human influences may have caused the dolphins to wander into the rivers, and have urged a rescue effort.
With both the mother, and baby she was carrying, dead, tissue samples are being sent to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C. for further testing as to cause of death.
from what I heard it was an anchor baby, they were trying to stay in the river where there is food and shelter.
Hey, let's not jump to conclusions about the dolphin's immigration status, OK?
baloney, i saw the mattress and beer cans floating in the river…..if it smells like and looks like…..well then assume away
I get so sick of these illegals showing up here. Round them up, and send them home where they came from. No more handouts. Times are tough, we cannot afford to support them and our own pets too.
yeah and the water taxi keeps honking and honking
And you know sooner or later their offspring will overburden our schools of fish.
Maury, that dolphin was a player! I know atleast 5 guys from my neighborhood that slept with Flipper! There is no way I am the dolphin's baby daddy!
January 7, 2009
Feds: 5 dolphins left in NJ river, more will die
By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press
Federal wildlife officials say only five of the 16 dolphins that have been cavorting in two New Jersey rivers since summer were spotted this week, and more are expected to die or strand themselves this winter.
However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has jurisdiction over the dolphins, still refuses to permit a rescue or relocation attempt.
The agency says it counted only five bottlenose dolphins Monday and Tuesday in the Shrewsbury River, and none in the Navesink. There were 12 dolphins spotted at the beginning of December; the agency says eight appeared to have lost weight.
The whereabouts of the other dolphins are not known.
Three have died so far, including the most recent one found on Christmas Day.
"NOAA expects additional mortalities or live strandings among the remaining animals may occur as the winter progresses," the agency said in a written update issued this afternoon. "We also continue to believe that these animals are not candidates for intervention and relocation."
Teri Frady, a spokeswoman for the agency, said in an e-mail today that "We do not improve their prospects by attempting to force them from the area. Distance, numbers, acclimation to the area, high likelihood of mortalities in a relocation attempt argue against it."
"What we have been doing is protecting their ability to use the very instincts and behaviors that also ensure the long-term health and survival of individuals in the larger population," she wrote. "They may fail, but that, too, is a common and important pattern in nature."
Frady said it is possible that as many as eight dolphins have made it out to sea on their own, but cautioned that can't be proven.
"They have not been resighted, alive or dead, and are not matched to any recovered carcass," she wrote. "Anything else is speculative."
The dolphins are at the center of a tug-of-war between federal wildlife officials — who plan to leave them alone unless they appear to be in imminent danger — and animal rescuers who want them either removed or coaxed out of the river and back out to sea.
The animals first showed up in the two rivers in early June, feeding on the abundant mossbunker that fill the rivers during the summer.
Animal advocates have wanted the dolphins removed since before the July 4th holiday, citing heavy boat traffic in the river. They also worried whether ongoing repair work on the Route 36 bridge between Highlands and Sea Bright — under which the dolphins passed on their way in — was scaring them from swimming back out to sea.
Scientists are split on whether the dolphins can survive the winter. A panel assembled by NOAA in mid-December said there is evidence of dolphins surviving winter in cold water climates.
Local rescuers, though, worry that waiting too long could invite a replay of a scenario that resulted in the deaths of four dolphins that lingered in the river in 1993. Ice eventually closed in on them and they drowned.
Whether there is enough food for the dolphins to survive the winter has been a key question for scientists and rescue advocates.
The animal found dead on December 25 was an adult female carrying a third trimester fetus. There were lesions on the adult's lungs, and it had nothing in its stomach.
Thanks for posting this, Joe, and getting back on topic with this story!