Rescue Efforts Ongoing for Dolphin Stranded in Middle Twp Creek

Here is the latest on a dolphin stranded in a small creek in Cape May Court House and the efforts to perform a rescue.

Marine Mammal Stranding Center Planning Another Rescue Attempt

Brigantine's Marine Mammal Stranding Center issued an update Tuesday on Facebook about the Bottlenose dolphin trapped in a small creek in Cape May Court House.

According to the MMSC, they have been checking on the dolphin several times a day since they were first notified about it on Thursday, May 16 on their stranding hotline.

On Saturday, May 18, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center took two boats out on the creek to try to encourage the dolphin to swim out, but the attempt was not successful.

There are now plans to try a different approach to move the dolphin.

Specialized equipment has been brought in from an out-of-state Stranding Network partner to help in the effort. The timeline for another rescue attempt is later this week.

Marine Mammal Stranding Center Cautions Against Interfering With Dolphin

As we told you on Tuesday, the dolphin is trapped in a small body of water off Rt 47. We are not giving an exact location at the request of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.

They are purposely not sharing specific rescue plans or a timeline for the rescue to discourage people from trying to interfere with the dolphin.

We are reminding the public that dolphins are Federally-protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Please do not attempt to approach the dolphin as that will only further increase the stress on the animal and hamper rescue efforts.

 

Not the First Time This Has Happened

As we mentioned in an earlier report, a similar situation happened in 2016 when a Bottlenose dolphin somehow made its way into the same creek in Cape May Court House and became stuck in a muddy section of the shallow creek.

In that case, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center eventually caught the dolphin in a net and released it into Delaware Bay.

At that time, experts theorized that the dolphin may have been looking for food and became trapped during low tide.