A dolphin that had been stranded in Orange County’s Bolsa Chica Wetlands temporarily escaped Saturday, only to return to shallow waters after fleeing two other dolphins.
Marine mammal experts were amid their renewed efforts to rescue the dolphin, which has been stuck in the wetlands in Huntington Beach.
They were trying to shoo the dolphin under a small bridge beneath Warner Avenue near Pacific Coast Highway.
On Saturday afternoon, the dolphin left the lagoon where it had been swimming in circles and appearing distressed but healthy. When it encountered two other dolphins about 200 yards into the Huntington Harbor channel, it apparently hid by passing back under the bridge.
“It looked scared, but it swam well,'' said marine biologist Peter Wallerstein of Marine Animal Rescue.
Biologists said Saturday afternoon that they are "standing down" but remain stationed along the cul-de-sac lagoon where the dolphin attracted bystanders Friday. They will continue monitor the dolphin.
The scientists had earlier Saturday been readying plans to trap the 500-pound, 7-foot-long marine mammal and relocate it at sea if it didn't follow their urgings to leave the shallow water.
The dolphin had likely chased some bait fish into a “dead-end area” of the wetlands, Wallerstein had said.
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