SEA BRIGHT -- Marine mammal experts will attempt today to rescue two dolphins that mistakenly made their way into the Shrewsbury River almost two months ago.

Teri Frady, spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said about 30 marine mammal experts will take part in the rescue, which is supposed to begin at sunrise today. The experts will leave from the Sandy Hook and Sea Bright area.

The plan is to rescue the two bottlenose dolphins, believed to be a mother and a calf, by using a net that will trail behind a boat.

The team will take blood from the dolphins, which, in part, will be used to determine whether the dolphins are healthy enough to continue their migration or if they should be sent for rehabilitation, Frady said.

If the dolphins are not in good shape, they will most likely be transported to the National Aquarium in Baltimore to be rehabilitated, said Frady.

It is not all that unusual for dolphins to sometimes wander into the Raritan Bay during their migration south, experts have said.

Once in the bay, the dolphins tend to continue heading south, leading them farther into the bay. Sometimes the dolphins find their way out of the bay on their own. But the fact that these dolphins had been in the river for about two months heightened concern among some experts.

Experts feared a repeat of a 1994 incident in which four dolphins died after becoming trapped in the icy Shrewsbury river. Rescuers had battled frigid February weather and snowstorms for days in an attempt to cut an escape route. The bodies of the dolphins washed up in the spring.

Robert Schoelkopf, director at the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, has said that he asked the National Marine Fishery Service in Gloucester, Mass., to intervene and rescue the dolphins. He had grown increasingly concerned about the dolphins because of the dipping water temperatures in the river over the last few days.

Frady said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration determined also that this would be the best time to do a rescue, before the temperatures dipped any further.

"It appears that a lot of the bait fish was starting to move out, and between that and the temperatures, now is a good time to make a move," Frady said.

The rescue procedure is delicate, said Frady, who said that during a rescue, dolphins will sometimes panic and become stressed. Frady said that team performing the rescue are familiar with these types of captures and should be able to reduce the stress as much as possible.