A dolphin in the Shrewsbury River between Rumson and Sea Bright Sunday evening.
The appearance of an estimated six dolphins in the Shrewsbury River on Sunday — first reported by redbankgreen — gives rise to a number of questions.
Are some or all of them from the pod of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins that camped out in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers from June 2008 into January of this year?
Are they lost, or do they know what they’re doing in the inland waters? Will they stay into the autumn and winter, even though doing so may prove fatal?
Over the cries of activists who demanded that the federal government intervene and remove last year’s pod, marine mammal experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration argued that the dolphins appeared to be extending their range. Chasing them out of the rivers would interfere with a natural function that has served the species for millions of years, they contended.
Expect the stalemate to resume if the latest group of dolphins decides to again make its summer home in the menhaden-rich waters here. Meantime, here are the answers NOAA spokeswoman Teri Frady provided via email to questions redbankgreen sent her yesterday:
Have you confirmed the presence and general location of the dolphins?
We have confirmed sightings and photographs from yesterday [Sunday], taken between the Sea Bright Bridge and the Highlands Bridge. No confirmed count. No resightings reported today that we have heard of.
Based on tagging data and observation we expect to start seeing more bottlenose along the Jersey Shore beginning in May. We’re also gotten several recent anecdotal accounts of groups of dolphins in Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay and to the south of Long Island. The first accounts of the resident group in the Shrewsbury/Navesink last year occurred about this time (early-mid June).
What if anything will NOAA do regarding the dolphins, assuming they haven’t already left?
If a resident group forms, we’ll evaluate and monitor to determine what actions need to be taken.
The reappearance of animals this year is consistent with our hypothesis of last year that the northern coastal population is extending and expanding its range northward, and that animals were likely to use the Shrewsbury-Navesink area when food is available and environmental conditions are favorable.
In the meantime, anything you can do to help us remind people how to view responsibly much appreciated.
What is the latest tally in terms of the number of dolphin corpses found last year and early this year, the causes of death, and the established links between the corpses and the pod you folks documented?
16 animals originally documented. Six stranded dead between September 24, 2008 and December April 20, 2009: 3 confirmed to be from that group, 3 not possible to confirm whether they were or not. Whereabouts and condition of others (10), unknown.
