Decomposition may hinder effort to identify dead dolphin

SANDY HOOK, N.J. - Advanced decomposition may make it hard for scientists to determine whether a dead bottlenose dolphin was part of a group that called two New Jersey rivers home.

The 8 1/2-foot-long dolphin was retrieved from the Shrewsbury River by workers rebuilding the Route 36 bridge between Sea Bright and Highlands.

But its dorsal fin - one of the most distinctive identifiers of individual dolphins - has decayed to a mushy pulp.

Tomorrow, scientists plan to remove some of the dolphin's teeth and take a muscle tissue sample to compare with DNA samples taken from some of the 16 dolphins who showed up in the river last June.

If its identity is confirmed, it would be the fourth death from the pod.