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Time running out for NY dolphins

A last-ditch attempt to rescue a pod of common dolphins trapped in a shallow cove off Long Island near New York appears to be failing.

About 20 dolphins were stranded in the shallow waters north of East Hampton over a week ago, after swimming through a gap in the sandbanks at high tide.

Although eight or nine were coaxed back into open waters, most of the others have now died - leaving three dolphins.

But forecast gales and low temperatures make their chances of survival slim.

The BBC's Jeremy Cooke in New York says these are increasingly frustrating times for the 80 or so volunteers who have spent much of the last week braving high winds and freezing temperatures to rescue the dolphins.

"Rescuers are standing by to pick up any of the living dolphins that may wash up on shore and take them for treatment.Time is not on our side. We're looking at a gale wind tomorrow and Sunday doesn't look good, which makes boat operations almost impossible," said Charles Hamilton, regional emergency response co-ordinator for the Department of Environmental Conservation.

There was some early success when eight or nine of the dolphins were herded through a tiny gap in the sandbanks and into the safety of the open waters.

Since then, all of the efforts which have included using several boats emitting high frequency sound pulses to corral the rest of the dolphins to safety, have failed.

Three days ago the remaining dolphins began to die. Marine biologists blamed stress and hunger. Gales and low temperatures predicted over the next few days make the chances of survival for the remaining dolphins extremely slim. Common, or white-sided, dolphins normally stay 30-80 miles (50-130km) offshore.