
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, August 23, 1993                   TAG: 9308230098
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                                LENGTH: Short

DOLPHIN CENSUS LEAVES SCIENTISTS GUESSING

The region's first dolphin census has left researchers with spotty results of how many of the mammals swim off the Atlantic coast.

For one hour June 10, volunteers from New Jersey to Georgia watched the ocean for bottlenose dolphins. Earlier this summer, the National Marine Fisheries Service officially designated the bottlenose dolphins as "depleted" as a result of deaths in 1987-88 in which about half of the population was lost.

The official tally in June off Virginia's coast was 347 dolphins. In preliminary figures, New Jersey reported 167, Delaware 25, North Carolina 99 and Georgia 165.

But experts consider these numbers minimum estimates, because dolphins are difficult to count. The mammals spend 90 percent of their time underwater and are in constant motion. - Associated Press

Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

by CNB