Photos of Porpoise Being Rescued from Keansburg Creek

Keansburg, NJ - Here are photos of the adorable female Harbor Porpoise that got stuck in Waackaack Creek in Keansburg last Thursday, being rescued and taken back to sea at Sandy Hook.

When the Harbor Porpoise was first spotted Thursday night swimming in the creek, Keansburg police called in New Jersey's Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC). The porpoise, estimated to be about two to three years old, was seemingly content to swim back and forth in Waackaack Creek, and refused to leave even after several high tide cycles. But rescuers knew she couldn't stay there forever.

See photos of the porpoise swimming in Waackaack Creek here.

MMSC volunteers surrounded the small, 50-pound female porpoise last Saturday morning. Using nets, they guided her into the container you see above and drove her to Sandy Hook park.

"We drove the four-wheel drive down to the beach, carried it to the water's edge and she leaped right out and swam away, into the ocean," said center director Bob Schoelkopf. "She's where she belongs now."

Do not be surprised to see Harbor Porpoises and seals swimming in Raritan Bay and in the waters off Sandy Hook this spring and summer, Schoelkopf said. Both species are native to the area.

Photos provided to Patch by the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.