Dolphins in Lamque, N.B., still stranded after 8 days

Another failed attempt at driving the six Atlantic white-sided dolphins out of the Lamque, N.B., harbour Thursday morning has forced rescuecrews from Halifax to re-evaluate their plans.

An attempt at rescue Tuesday evening and two more on Wednesday at high tide in the morning and eveningalso failed.

"We did try a baiting approach last night to try to entice the dolphins out of the area," said rescue co-ordinator Andrew Reid ofWednesday's second attempt

"That didn't work. They didn't have much interest. They checked it out a few times, but then just kind of ignored it."

The dolphins, a native species to the Northern Atlantic near the Acadian Peninsula, have been stranded in Lamque's shallow harbour for eight days.

They appear to have swum in at high tide and will not leave the safety of the relatively deep area near the town's bridge.

To reach open ocean, the dolphins must swim through a kilometre-long, shallow channel, which will cause them discomfort.

'Pingers' being tried

The Marine Animal Response Society (MARS), based in Halifax, employed the use of "acoustic pingers" for the first time Thursday morning.

The equipment was on loan from a company in Nova Scotia.

"This is an acoustic instrument that creates a high-frequency pinging noise. The idea is to annoy the dolphins enough in combination with the boats sowe'd be able to herd them out of the area," said Reid.

The attempt was unsuccessful.

More "pingers" are on the way from Halifax, to be attached to even more boats from Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

It doesn't seem they're ever going to leave on their own.- Andrew Reid, rescue co-ordinator

"We'llhave a tight line of boats so the dolphins won't be able to evade us. That's something else we can try. If that doesn't work, we'll assess the situation again and decide on the best course of action for these animals," said Reid.

Reid believes the mammalsare in relatively good health, though it is difficult to predict how long that will last.

The dolphins are feeding on small fish near the bridge, but reacted aggressively to the larger herring thrown in by rescuers to lure them into the ocean.

"They're not full there. This situation does have to get resolved. It doesn't seem like they're ever going to leave on their own, just due to the topography of the water, but we're hoping we can get them out in the next couple days," said Reid.

One dolphindied, six remain

One of the herd has died since the dolphins were stranded eight days ago.

Dolphins are a social species and take care of their own. Reid believes the six remaining dolphins may have followed the sick individual into shallow water.

"It could also have been a case of navigational error where they got into this bay. It's pretty complicated with lots of shallows and they might have gone the wrong direction rather than heading out to open ocean," said Reid.

Or, the answer could be simple:"They could have followed food in. They have a bit of a one-track mind sometimes when it comes to food."