Dolphin Sighting in Northport

By Maureen Daly

The Dolphins are returning to the north shore.

Last Thursday, local residents were delighted to see a dolphin frolicking in the waters off Northport Harbor.

The marine mammals had largely abandoned Long Island Sound, due to local hunting and fishing during colonial and industrial times, but the clean-up of local waters in recent decades has seen a reemergence of local sea life.

It is now common to spot seals basking on the rocks off Centre Island and Lloyd Neck, and the "Oyster Seeding" programs of the Towns of Oyster Bay and North Hempstead have added millions of oysters into our local waters.

Each oyster filters clean over 25 gallons of seawater each day.

The dolphin was sighted after large schools of fish - which the dolphins feed upon - were sighted in Huntington Bay.

Three years ago there were belugas - white whales - in Cold Spring Harbor and Oyster Bay.