Dolphins make surprise Haifa showing

Marine biologists and maritime police spent the day yesterday attempting to help return to the open sea a pod of dolphins that entered the Haifa harbor by mistake.

Some 40 rough-toothed dolphins apparently entered the port as a result of a malfunction of their natural navigational systems. The same problem may have caused them to have difficulty finding their way out.

The appearance of dolphins in the port is an unprecedented occurence in the annals of Israel's coastline.

The dolphins were not in distress, but the turbid waters of the harbor are inappropriate for mammals, said Aviad Sheinin of the University of Haifa's Institute for Maritime Studies. The institute's representatives were working with maritime police officers to assist the dolphins.

"We are speaking of a pod that has split in two," said Oz Gufman, head of the university's dolphin project. "Some of them entered the harbor and the remainder are outside the breakwater. We plan to make a noise and explain to them how to get out. It is a breathtaking sight."

Felix Cohen, commander of the maritime police unit, said he was totally exhausted by lunchtime yesterday. Not by the dolphins, which were playing peacefully in the calm waters and which he could see from his office, but by the media.

"When we dragged boat loads of terrorist arms and ammunition into the port, only about one-quarter of the press who are here today came to cover the event," he said. "Today, we have been working as taxi drivers and our three boats have been ferrying TV crews and photographers back and forth to `shoot' the dolphins."

It all began at 6 A.M. yesterday when officers at the lookout post at the port entrance sighted the 40 or so dolphins calmly sailing past them and settling in the middle of the port, between Israeli navy vessels and large cargo ships.

The officers immediately notified all concerned. Sheinin and Gufman, who figured the report must be exaggerated, rushed down to the port. After two frustrating years of watching for dolphins along the entire coastline of the country, summer and winter, the institute's representatives had succeeded in photographing only a few dozen of the mammals, and occasionally one or two had wandered into the harbor. Now they were faced with 40 leaping dolphins right under their noses.

The rough-toothed dolphins are rare and come to this part of the Mediterranean only in early spring, Sheinin said. The institute has so far succeeded in examining a mere five carcasses that had washed up on shore, mainly after being caught in a fisherman's net. They are known to swim in large pods and eat fish, he said, and are less acrobatic than the regular dolphins.

The rumor spread fast in Haifa and locals began rushing to the port to see the sight. People ran home to get their children.

The navy was given orders to cut down on its activities and not to operate its sonar near them, so as not to harm the sea mammals, many of which were mere calves.

Experienced fishermen pointed to a school of gray mullet. They said the dolphins had apparently pushed the fish into the port to ensure their food supply. The dolphins could be expected to leave the port as soon as there was no longer feed for them, they added.

	THEDAYOFTHEDOLPHINS: Some of the rough-toothed dolphins that entered Haifa port yesterday.
	Photo by: Itzik Ben-Malki