What to Know
- A distressed dolphin that was rescued from the rocky shoreline in Jersey City Monday afternoon has died, according to an official
- It all started Monday, shortly before 5 p.m., when Jersey City ESU responded to a call of a dolphin in distress on shoreline of Morris Canal
- Marine Mammal Stranding Center staff ended up euthanizing the dolphin because it was severely underweight, the center's co-director said
It was an unusual emergency call on the banks of the Hudson River.
A distressed dolphin ended up having to be rescued from the rocky shoreline in Jersey City Monday evening.
It all started Monday, shortly before 5 p.m., when the Emergency Service Unit for Jersey City responded to a call of a dolphin in distress within the Essex Street and Hudson Street shoreline of the Morris Canal, according to a spokesperson for the mayor’s office.
When ESU officers arrived at the scene they were met by State Park Police and a Liberty Humane Society animal control officer, the spokesperson for the mayor’s office said, adding that the animal control officer was keeping the dolphin in place with a bed sheet in an attempt to keep it from crashing against the shoreline.
Subsequently, a sergeant with the Jersey City Police Department entered the canal and assisted with controlling the dolphin, while officers secured the area and obtained equipment needed for the rescue and recovery, the mayor’s office said. EMTs provided bed sheets to assist.
Around 7:10 p.m., Marine Mammal Stranding Center staff arrived on scene and coordinated the recovery and transportation of the distressed dolphin to its center in Brigantine, New Jersey.
Local
Unfortunately, despite everyone’s hard work, dedication and desire to save the aquatic mammal, the dolphin did not make it.
Bob Schoelkopf, co-director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, told NBC 4 New York the dolphin died on the way to the center.
Marine Mammal Stranding Center staff euthanized the dolphin because it was severely underweight and it was unlikely it would survive, Schoelkopf said.
Typically, dolphins should weigh about 225 pounds, but the one that ended up on the Jersey City shoreline weighed about 130 pounds, according to Schoelkopf.
The dolphin will now undergo a necropsy at a state lab.
Although it is uncommon for dolphins to come ashore in that area, it does happen, Schoelkopf said.
Staff from the center guess that the dolphin was about one year old and likely got separated from its group.
