TRENTON, N.J. — August 29, 2013 — The Christie Administration today directed additional state resources toward the investigation of bottlenose dolphin deaths along the coast of New Jersey that are part of what federal officials suspect is a naturally occurring disease cycle affecting populations of these marine mammals from New York to Virginia.
These steps include using Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) aircraft and expanding patrols by DEP conservation officers. The Administration is also providing the use of a Department of Agriculture lab for testing, a move that will greatly help the nonprofit Marine Mammal Stranding Center, on the front lines of responding to the deaths since early July.
"Fortunately, the federal investigation into the dolphin deaths is making significant progress," DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said. "The Christie Administration is committed to doing everything we can to assist in this investigation, and to helping the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in their work to respond to this sad situation." The DEP will pay for the testing at the Department of Agriculture's Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory in Ewing Township.
The Brigantine-based Marine Mammal Stranding Center had been taking the animals to a University of Pennsylvania veterinary facility, paying for the cost of testing from its own resources. The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), through a Joint Enforcement Agreement with New Jersey, is providing the DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife nearly $92,000 to increase land and boat patrols to assist in the monitoring and recovery of bottlenose dolphins.