SEA BRIGHT — A dead dolphin, not a part of the bottlenose dolphin pod that has been living in the Shrewsbury River, was discovered floating near the Route 36 Highlands Bridge during an incoming tide, before 8 a.m. Friday, Nov. 14, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
N.J. Department of Transportation workers on the bridge sighted the dolphin and immediately reported the incident to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine.
The dolphin has been preliminarily identified by the stranding center as a common dolphin and not a member of the pod of 12 bottlenose dolphins currently residing in the Shrewsbury/Navesink estuary.
The pod was first noticed in June and originally consisted of 16 dolphins. Of the 16, two were previously confirmed dead and two were unaccounted for.
The carcass discovered on Nov. 14 has been recovered and the NOAA is arranging for species confirmation and a necropsy.
The dolphins have been spotted in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers.
NOAA spokesperson Teri Frady said that it’s been too risky to move the dolphins. In a previous interview, she said that since the dolphins were feeding and doing well there was no need to move them.
Over the July Fourth weekend, officials created a “no approach zone” around the dolphins to protect them from additional boat traffic created by the holiday.
Last month Sen. Joseph Kyrillos Jr. (R- 13th District) issued a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service in support of moving the dolphins.
The letter stated, “Now is the time to take action to ensure that the dolphins are safely returned to the ocean before the water temperatures drop further and the situation worsens.”
Frady said NOAA would continue to monitor the dolphins.