A dolphin swims in the Cape Fear River. (StarNews file photo)
Peggy Sloan, director of the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher, said: “It is not uncommon to see Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, the species commonly spotted along our coast, swimming far up the Cape Fear River. I’ve heard of sightings from Wilmington’s waterfront. While these dolphins couldn’t live permanently in fresh water, it is not a problem for them to travel between salt and fresh water. If their food swims upriver, it is quite likely the dolphins will follow.”
Date posted: February 11, 2011
User-contributed question by:
Natalia
My son and I saw a school of about 4 or 5 dolphins from the Riverwalk at the USS Diligence mooring swimming upstream in the summer of 2007. They continued upstream out of sight under the Isabel Holmes Bridge.