Stubborn dolphins free

UPDATE: 11:05 A.M.

Six dolphins who stubbornly refused efforts to free them from a shallow bay in northern New Brunswick appear to have been finally coaxed back to open ocean.

"We don't see them anymore," fisheries spokeswoman Krista Petersen said Friday. "They are definitely in the deeper water outside the stranding area."

Petersen says rescuers tried new tactics Friday morning with the dolphins, who had been stranded near Lameque for more than a week and resisted days of rescue attempts.

She said 10 officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, four members of the Marine Animal Response Society and three volunteers used stretchers Friday to ease the dolphins across shallow areas.

"At one point the dolphins got out of a deep area and got sort of stuck a bit on some sand, so they were able to put the stretchers underneath the bodies of the dolphins to help them move. People would be on either side of the stretchers to help them move over a sandbar, for example," she said

She said the animals were brought to open water and haven't been seen since.

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ORIGINAL: 7:40 a.m.

Crews are trying new tactics today to encourage a pod of dolphins to leave a shallow bay in northern New Brunswick.

Fisheries spokeswoman Krista Petersen says five boats were using a wall made out of buoys, chain and rope to help move the six dolphins toward open ocean.

She says they tried once this morning, but some of the dolphins got behind the rope wall.

They were also using acoustic pingers to prompt the animals to head out to sea after trying the same tactic Thursday.

It's been more than a week since seven Atlantic white-sided dolphins became stranded near Lameque, with one dying two days later.

Tonya Wimmer of the Marine Animal Response Society, who is involved in the rescue effort, says the dolphins are "doing what they want to do" and appeared to be in good health.