Updated story from The Record:
Dolphins surface in Hackensack
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Last updated: Thursday February 18, 2010, 5:06 PM
BY SCOTT FALLON
The Record
STAFF WRITER
A pod of eight to 15 dolphins were seen in the Hackensack River in Hackensack on Wednesday.
A group of dolphins have made their way up the Hackensack River near Teaneck and Bogota, prompting concerns that they may not survive so far from the sea.
Eight to 15 dolphins were first spotted near the Midtown Bridge on Wednesday morning, about 12 miles north of Newark Bay. They stayed around the Hackensack area most of the day, with several sightings near the Bergen County Jail.
There is not enough food in the river this time of year to sustain a dolphin, said Bill Sheehan, head of the Hackensack Riverkeeper group. "We're talking about a 300-pound animal that needs a lot of protein to survive."
Another concern is that the salinity of the water in that section of the Hackensack is a fraction of what it is in the ocean. "They're in a very strange environment," Sheehan said. "They belong in the ocean, not the Hackensack."
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The Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine has been contacted, but says it cannot act unless the dolphins are in distress.
"They're still free-swimming right now," said Robert Schoelkopf, the center's director.
Why the dolphins migrated up the river is unknown. None have ever been spotted so far north in the Hackensack, Sheehan said.
Schoelkopf said one or more of the dolphins could have developed a "parasitic condition," which led them astray. "The others just have no clue and follow the leader," he said.
In 2006, a dead porpoise was discovered in New Milford's French Creek, a tributary of the Hackensack. In 1985, a harbor seal was spotted on the Hackensack in Teaneck.
It is reminiscent of a group of 16 dolphins that made their way up the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers near Sandy Hook in June 2008.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration decided against trying to drive the dolphins from the river, fearing it would do more harm than good. Rescue groups like Schoelkopf's were told to avoid the animals unless they come up on land in distress.
The decision prompted a wave of criticism from residents of the area who became attached to the animals and even distributed "Save the Dolphins!" fliers. The river's banks were often crowded with onlookers, who watched them occasionally leap out of the water and land with a splash.
But NOAA scientists said the dolphins had to be left to their own devices and instincts. At least four of the dolphins died as winter approached and the river's food supply ran low. Several dolphins also died in the Shrewsbury in 1993 when they became trapped in ice.
The Shrewsbury River is closer to the ocean than the Hackensack and has a higher salinity. Scientists believed the dolphins were looking for food when they entered the Shrewsbury.
In the coming days, Sheehan and his group's volunteers will watch for the dolphins. Schoelkopf said he is hoping to find better photos so the species of dolphins can be determined.
There were 27 stranded dolphins statewide last year.
