UPDATE, APRIL 30, 9:51 A.M.: With a dolphin still swimming in circles on the inland side of PCH at the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach for a fourth day, animall rescue crews say they may step up efforts to return the mammal that's been nicknamed Freddie to the open sea.
They came close to achieving that goal over the weekend as Freddie swam near the Warner Street bridge and into Huntington Harbour, but a pod of dolphins apparently charged Freddie, who stayed put.
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Freddie appears healthy, according to mammal researchers who remain clueless as to why other dolphins are apparently bullying the wayward animal.
ORIGINAL POST, APRIL 27, 12:16 P.M.: A crowd has gathered on the inland side of PCH at the Bolsa Chica
wetlands in Huntington Beach, where a lone dolphin is swimming in
circles in shallow water.
Mammal rescuers on the scene are trying
to determine if the stranded dolphin needs human assistance getting
back to the ocean or a nearby marina.
Regina Asmutus-Silvia of the Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society tells CNN the best strategy at this hour is to wait for the tide to come in, which can help the dolphin find its way back to the open sea on its own.
Talking over live newscopter images of the dolphin, Asmutus-Silvia added that the sound of choppers is no doubt disturbing and confusing a mammal that relies on super-sensitive hearing.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.