Residents living near a river in New Jersey spotted a dolphin in the water on Wednesday, and despite the best efforts of animal rescuers to lead it back to sea, the wayward animal decided to stick around for another day.
Locals first discovered the dolphin in the South River located in Old Bridge. Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC) representative Shelia Dean said that they hoped the stranded animal would be led back to the ocean with the rise of the tide on Wednesday.
When the animal remained in the river for another day, members of the local group called Raritan Riverkeeper were sent to go into the water along with a baykeeper watercraft in order to gently lead it down the South River.
MMSC animal expert Jay Pagel said that the Raritan Riverkeeper workers wanted to prevent the stranded dolphin from staying in the area and encourage it to swim back to deeper water close to the ocean.
The wayward mammal, however, ignored the efforts of the animal rescuers completely and chose to stay in the river, leading locals to flock the riverside to catch a glimpse of the animal.
Hundreds of Old Bridge residents came down to the South River to watch the seemingly healthy dolphin swim back and forth in river's narrow portions. For local onlookers, it was entertaining sight to watch the animal in the suburban neighborhood located around 10 miles from the ocean.
"The dolphin definitely doesn't belong in the river, which is mostly freshwater, and it's an out-of-habitat situation," Robert Schoelkopf, founding director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, said.
"Unfortunately, the location is so remote and dangerous not only for the dolphin but for anyone in the water that we can't put any of our people in it. There are no banks on the side of the river, so it sort of just drops down and the river is covered with broken concrete and metal bars."
Schoelkopf added that the dolphin does not seem to be feeding and that it is a senior. He said that he had seen cases wherein older dolphins decide to swim out of the ocean and move into creeks where they await the end of their lives.
Schoelkopf said that they will try to lead the dolphin back to the ocean again, but they hope that no one else would try to rescue the animal on their own to lessen the stress placed on it.
Photo: Alessandro Caproni | Flickr
