Dolphins herded to open water off Lamèque
Gail Harding | CBC News | Posted: October 7, 2016 11:14 AM | Last Updated: October 7, 2016
Department of Fisheries and Oceans official says dolphins are being monitored after being moved to open water
Six Atlantic white-sided dolphins have been herded to open water by fishery officers and experts from Marine Animal Response Society.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans spokesperson Krista Petersen says they are continuing to monitor the situation to see if the dolphins will leave the area.
The dolphins were herded out the Lamèque harbour on Friday morning. They had been stranded in northeastern New Brunswick for nine days.
Five boats with fishery officers, MARS experts and volunteers used a combination of acoustic sonar, bait and placed a weighted barrier wall behind the dolphins.
The dolphins were herded from the harbour to the sandbar and some of the dolphins were able to swim over. Petersen said the dolphins that were unable to do so were moved to open water with dolphin stretchers.
Atlantic white-sided dolphins are a native species to the North Atlantic near the Acadian Peninsula.
Seven dolphins appear to have swum into the area at high tide and would not leave the safety of the relatively deep area near the town's bridge. One of the pod died since the dolphins were stranded eight days ago.
To reach open ocean, the dolphins needed to swim through a kilometre-long, shallow channel.