SEA BRIGHT, N.J. — A group of bottlenose dolphins have been confounding humans since they took up residence in two rivers near the Jersey shore six months ago. Now that it’s winter, some people worry they’ll never make it out.
Three dolphins have died out of the original group of about 15 that spent the summer and fall in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers, waterways just north of Asbury Park.
Federal wildlife experts say the remaining dolphins are healthy and should be able to make it through the winter if they choose to stay. They cite the cases of dolphins that successfully spent winters in Massachusetts, Virginia and even northern Scotland.
But some animal advocates worry the dolphins will meet the same fate as four that drowned in the Shrewsbury River in 1993 when ice closed in on them, or the 26 dolphins killed by a sudden freeze in 1990 in Texas’ Matagorda Bay.
“It would seem to me that the natural habitat for dolphins in the winter when it gets cold is much farther south in warmer waters,” said U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J. “Isn’t it stressful for them to be in this colder environment? Since they are mammals, what happens if the ice freezes over and they can’t breathe?”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has jurisdiction over the dolphins, doesn’t plan to intervene unless the dolphins appear to be in imminent danger.
Dolphins can handle cold weather, said Randall Wells, dolphin research program manager for the Chicago Zoological Society.
“There are examples of the Navy using dolphins in very cold situations with ice around, and a naturally occurring population of dolphins off the coast of northern Scotland, where ice reaches into the water and snow is in the mountains nearby, and these animals get by fine,” he said. “Blubber is a pretty amazing substance in these animals; it’s able to maintain body temperatures quite well.”
Winter residents?
WHAT: Bottlenose dolphins have been in New Jersey’s Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers since June.
TO MOVE THEM … Dolphin advocates say falling water temperature and fleeing bait fish will leave the animals with nothing to eat. They’re also worried the rivers will freeze, suffocating the air-breathing mammals.
… OR NOT TO MOVE THEM: Federal wildlife officials say they won’t intervene unless the dolphins start to strand themselves. They expect the dolphins will leave the rivers when there isn’t enough food, but say they might stay there all winter if there are bait fish nearby. The Associated Press
