Group of wayward dolphins spotted in icy NJ river; rescuers can’t help until in ‘distress’
By APThursday, February 18, 2010
Group of wayward dolphins spotted in icy NJ river
HACKENSACK, N.J. — A group of wayward dolphins has been spotted in a northern New Jersey river.
About 8 to 15 dolphins were first reported in the chilly Hackensack River on Wednesday. They’ve been swimming near the towns of Hackensack, Teaneck and Bogota (ba-GOH’-tah).
Bill Sheehan of the Hackensack Riverkeeper group fears there’s not enough food in the river in the winter to sustain the dolphins.
The Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine has been contacted. The center says it can’t act until the dolphins are in distress.
Dolphins have wandered into New Jersey rivers in the past, including a pod that caused a stir in the Shrewsbury River in the summer of 2008, and stayed in the area for over 7 months. Several of them were believed to have died as temperatures dropped.
