A dolphin has been stuck in a Jersey Shore creek for almost a week, but there’s a rescue plan

A bottlenose dolphin has been stuck in a narrow Cape May County creek for nearly a week, and rescuers are mounting a plan to get it back in the ocean.

According to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, a concerned citizen in Middle Township called the center’s stranding hotline on May 16 and staffers have gone to check on the dolphin multiple times daily since.

The dolphin is stranded in Cresse Creek, several miles inland from the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean in North Wildwood.

The wayward dolphin has been drawing a crowd too.

“I can’t help myself, I’m out here three to four times a day just to make sure he’s OK. I feel bad for the little guy, he shouldn’t be trapped in the little creek,” one local resident told 6ABC recently.

A Marine Mammal Stranding Center crew was in the creek Saturday with boats, trying to encourage the dolphin to move out to no avail. Now the center is planning a covert rescue by the end of the week.

“In the meantime, we will not be sharing specific details about the proposed rescue plans and specific timeline as we do not want unauthorized people to interfere with the rescue efforts or make any attempts to move the animal on their own, as that will put the dolphin and people at risk,” the stranding center announced on its website.

The center’s director told NJ.com that the dolphin was likely young and chasing food at high tide and got stuck too far inland.

According to the stranding center, a dolphin was captured in the same section of this creek in 2016 and returned to the Delaware Bay.