Wayward Dolphins May Be Dead, Spokesman Says

Mammals haven't been seen since last week

The head of a marine mammal rescue group says he's afraid the last five dolphins who have been staying in two Jersey shore rivers since June may be dead.

Bob Schoelkopf, co-director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, says increasing ice in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers, coupled with the fact that no one has seen the dolphins since Thursday, indicates they may have perished.

Schoelkopf says when he last saw the bottlenose dolphins last Tuesday, they looked emaciated and weak.

He has been the loudest voice calling on federal wildlife officials to authorize an intervention to get the dolphins out of the river and back out to sea.

But federal authorities say trying to coax or scare the dolphin from the river is risky and probably won't work.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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