ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — A helicopter search of two New Jersey rivers Tuesday failed to turn up a glimpse of the dolphins that had been living there since last summer, perhaps an indication the mammals have safely swum away.
The U.S. Coast Guard’s Atlantic City station and scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration surveyed the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers in Monmouth County for any sign of the bottlenose dolphins. They didn’t find any.
Three of the original 16 dolphins spotted in the river last June have died. The fate of the others is unknown.
The dolphins had been at the center of a tug of war between federal wildlife officials — who said they would leave the dolphins alone unless they appeared to be in imminent danger — and animal rescuers, who wanted them either removed or coaxed out of the river and back out to sea.
