Dolphins Draw Crowds on Shore
By Jan Hefler and Troy Graham, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Jul. 2–SEA BRIGHT, N.J. — McLoone’s Rum Runner, a waterfront restaurant in Monmouth County, is known for its good location near the ocean, a few miles up the Shrewsbury River.
Now a group of bottlenose dolphins has found the spot agreeable as well, wandering up the river and spending the last couple of weeks frolicking off the restaurant’s outdoor deck.
Hundreds of people toting cameras and binoculars have been drawn to the unlikely site in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the wayward dolphins.
Julie Miller was visiting McLoone’s for the third time yesterday, after failing to spot the dolphins on her previous trips.
“I almost feel like I’m waiting for a mermaid or something to come out,” said her friend Jerri Lynch.
“Oh, there they are! See, see, see, they’re up by the bridge,” Miller said enthusiastically, after scanning the water.
The theory is that the 15 to 20 dolphins made their way into the river while following a school of menhaden fish from the ocean.
The bottlenose — “like Flipper,” said Teri Frady, a spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — are coastal dolphins that migrate between Virginia and New Jersey.
Frady said Sea Bright is as far north as they normally travel.
The dolphins are situated between the Sea Bright and Highlands bridges, about two miles from the Atlantic.
The area is popular with boaters, and locals say the July Fourth weekend brings as many as 150,000 people to the area to watch fireworks. Many arrive in boats or ride personal watercraft through the area where the dolphins have settled.
It was a mistake for authorities not to drive the dolphins out to sea before the holiday, said Bob Harker of Oceanport. “There’s hundreds of boats out there, and [the fireworks] end after dark.”
The coming revelry has sparked a bit of debate at McLoone’s, where patrons and staff have fretted about the dolphins being harassed or, worse, hit by a boater.
Already, they said, a man jumped off a boat and tried to swim with the creatures, earning a hefty fine.
The dolphins are a protected species, and harassing them can carry a $10,000 penalty, Frady said.
Some people think the dolphins should be herded out of the river with boats or sonar.
“I just don’t want them to get hurt,” said Candy DeFalco of Fair Haven. “They’re beautiful to look at, but they should be back in their habitat.”
“My idea is they should fill up a boat full of fish and keep chucking them and guide them out,” said Miller, of Oakhurst.
But Frady said officials have decided to leave the dolphins alone for now. They’re eating and socializing and seem to be healthy.
“We don’t have any reason to believe they won’t be able to avoid things they don’t like,” she said.
Frady said environmental and law enforcement officials will be out in force this weekend to make sure boaters keep their distance.
Yesterday, when a 17-foot vessel crept too close, a state police marine boat warned its pilot through a loudspeaker.
The folks at McLoone’s have become protective of the dolphins, as well.
Molly McLoone, hostess and daughter of the owner, said staff members have called the marine unit about four times to report inconsiderate boaters.
“It’s good for business, but I’m getting more sad,” McLoone said. “I hope they do something before all the Fourth of July traffic gets here.”
“I think they need to put up a barrier or something,” bartender Julie Nociolo said. She noted with amusement that CNN reported the story of the dolphins between news from Zimbabwe and North Korea.
In 2005, a beluga whale traveled 100 miles up the Delaware River and sparked much of the same novelty-driven enthusiasm. The whale turned around near Trenton and headed back to sea.
Officials hope the dolphins also will head home on their own. But as long as fish remain plentiful in the Shrewsbury, the dolphins are likely to stay, Frady said.
In the meantime, the dolphins continue to draw the oohs and ahhs of the crowd on the deck at McLoone’s, especially when a calf jumps clear into the air.
DeFalco was lucky enough to see one of the dolphins propel out of the water.
“I felt like I was in Alaska,” she said. “It was so great.”
Contact staff writer Jan Hefler at 856-779-3224 or jhefler@phillynews.com.
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