5 Dolphins Remain in Navesink/Shrewsbury Estuaries

As just seen on the Channel 4 News, 8 of the dolphins (and their conditions) are now unaccounted for. It’s very likely that they’ve successfully made it back to sea. Of the remaining 5 dolphins 2 may be showing signs of weight loss. However, they are all still engaging in feeding behavior.

The coverage stated that the NOAA still has no plan of removing the remaining dolphins. According to the APP article, the NOAA is coordinating with conservation organizations to prepare for possible strandings or even deaths. However, they still do not feel the dolphins “are candidates for intervention and relocation”.

The NOAA has been very responsive to my email inquiries. I recently received an email from Teri Frady regarding the current status of the dolphins:

“These animals are not candidates for relocation now for the same reason they were not candidates before: we do not improve their prospects by attempting to force them from the area.

Distance, numbers, acclimation to the area, high likelihood of mortalities in a relocation attempt argue against it, and there is no evidence that they are out-of-habitat, trapped, stranded, or injured. What we have been doing is protecting their ability to use the very instincts and behaviors that also ensure the long-term health and survival of individuals in the larger population. They may fail, but that too is a common and important pattern in nature. NOAA cares about the survival of dolphins and is expressing this concern by allowing nature to guide this event rather than launching a human intervention that is unlikely to improve prospects for these particular animals in any way.“

Congressman Pallone & Senator Menendez are beginning to pressure the NOAA to change their stance on the matter.