Featured Image: International Fund for Animal Welfare
By: Alice Morris
Beachgoers in Barnstable, Massachusetts encountered an unusual and unsettling scene last weekend when they found not one, but 10 common dolphins stranded on Sandy Neck beach.
A rescue team from the International Fund for Animal Welfare eventually arrived at the scene and quickly set to work getting the (ten!) dolphins back into the water.
The team was able to refloat the young adult dolphins, but two individuals became stranded again. To prevent a third stranding, the rescuers transported the dolphins down the beach and onto a vessel that drove them out into deeper water. They were successfully released at the mouth of Barnstable Harbor.
Image Credit: International Fund for Animal Welfare
What made this potentially deadly situation have a happy ending was the help of bystanders who kept the dolphins wet until the rescue team showed up.
Some fast-thinking individuals used bed sheets as slings to support the animals in the water, placing more sheets on the dolphins’ backs to keep them cool.
Alex Johnson of the International Fund for Animal Welfare points out that dolphins can breathe perfectly fine on dry land, so immediate transport back into the water isn’t the first concern for stranded dolphins. Rather, it’s the sun’s harmful rays that pose the biggest threat to a dolphin’s sensitive skin. Remember: Dolphins can get badly sunburned too.
Image Credit: WMUR Manchester
In general, the best thing that beachgoers can do when they find a beached animal is to give it space and keep voices down, so the animal remains calm until professional help arrives.
It was a happy ending for the Cape Cod dolphins that, with any luck, were able to rejoin their pod and make their way to deeper water.
You can read more about the dolphins’ close call at bostonglobe.com and wcvb.com.