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Dolphins trapped behind drifting pack ice
Source: Agencies |
February 19, 2009, Thursday
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FIVE exhausted dolphins have been trapped behind drifting pack ice for several days and now need rapid rescue, the mayor of an eastern Canadian village said yesterday.
The 8-foot (2.4-meter)-long animals somehow became separated from the open Atlantic and have been swimming in circles for four days in a shrinking open area of Seal Cove's harbor, just 100 feet (30 meters) from shore, said Mayor Winston May.
"They keep going round circles, trying to keep this little pool of water open so that they can have their breathing area. And the whole bay seems to be froze up, there's no where else for them to go," said May.
Wayne Ledwell, who operates the Whale Release and Strandings Group, an organization that specializes in rescuing whales and dolphins, said dolphins won't swim long distances under ice since they need to surface regularly to breathe and the slabs of ice would make that impossible.
He said if the ice continues to encroach on the open area the dolphins face a risk of suffocation.
May said he has asked Canada's federal Fisheries Department to send an icebreaker into the community's harbor to create a channel to the open Atlantic.
"They're not going to survive much longer," said May. "You can hear (the dolphins) crying all night long," he said.
Officials with the Fisheries Department could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The dolphins are regular visitors to the waters around Newfoundland's Seal Cove, which is about 400 miles (643 kilometers) northwest of capital city St. John's.
The 8-foot (2.4-meter)-long animals somehow became separated from the open Atlantic and have been swimming in circles for four days in a shrinking open area of Seal Cove's harbor, just 100 feet (30 meters) from shore, said Mayor Winston May.
"They keep going round circles, trying to keep this little pool of water open so that they can have their breathing area. And the whole bay seems to be froze up, there's no where else for them to go," said May.
Wayne Ledwell, who operates the Whale Release and Strandings Group, an organization that specializes in rescuing whales and dolphins, said dolphins won't swim long distances under ice since they need to surface regularly to breathe and the slabs of ice would make that impossible.
He said if the ice continues to encroach on the open area the dolphins face a risk of suffocation.
May said he has asked Canada's federal Fisheries Department to send an icebreaker into the community's harbor to create a channel to the open Atlantic.
"They're not going to survive much longer," said May. "You can hear (the dolphins) crying all night long," he said.
Officials with the Fisheries Department could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The dolphins are regular visitors to the waters around Newfoundland's Seal Cove, which is about 400 miles (643 kilometers) northwest of capital city St. John's.
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