Dolphins in D.C.? Not quite. But there are more dolphins in the Potomac River than you might think, and two local groups are holding a contest to name two of them.
The Potomac-Chesapeake Dolphin Project and the Potomac Conservancy are looking for the public鈥檚 ideas on what to name two of the more than 1,000 dolphins that have been sighted in the Potomac and the Chesapeake Bay.
Right now, they鈥檙e known as just D1 and D2: They can be distinguished by their dorsal fins, they鈥檙e adults, as far as the conservancy can tell, and they鈥檝e been seen in larger groups:
And that鈥檚 where you come in. You鈥檝e got until May 24 to nominate a pair of names; the groups will narrow the submissions down to 10 pairs of names that they鈥檒l then put out for a public vote in June. You can cast your vote on聽.
They said in a news release that they鈥檒l give preference to 鈥渘ames that relate to the Potomac River, local outdoor places, the environment, or in tribute to environmental leaders.鈥�
Most of the dolphins are around the mouth of the river, but as the Potomac gets cleaner, they鈥檙e starting to head north 鈥� some have been sighted near the Harry Nice Bridge. The conservancy鈥檚 site said that in the 1880s dolphins were once seen all the way up in Alexandria, Virginia.
And, as today鈥檚 dolphins head further upstream, the conservancy said they鈥檙e starting to see the only thing cuter than dolphins 鈥� baby dolphins.
The conservancy is encouraging people to 鈥渇lip out鈥� over this news 鈥� a joke I鈥檓 glad I don鈥檛 have to be the one to make but don鈥檛 necessarily disagree with.
