11 dolphins rescued twice on Cape Cod amid spike in strandings. 'Unprecedented summer.'

Merrily Cassidy, Cape Cod Times

A marine mammal rescue team and volunteers responded to the largest bottlenose dolphin mass stranding in the Northeast region this week, according to a rescue agency.

On Monday, the rescue team from the International Fund for Animal Welfare and volunteers responded to a report of 14 bottlenose dolphins stranded on the flats off Linnell Landing in Brewster. Three of the 14 were dead. The other 11 dolphins were refloated as the tide rolled in.

“Upon arrival, 11 dolphins were still alive, and the team immediately began preparing to refloat them with the changing tide,” IFAW biologist and animal responder Kira Kasper stated in a press release. “In just the last two weeks, we have responded to 26 dolphin strandings, both common and bottlenose, so we have been on high alert and monitoring their movements closely.”

International Fund for Animal Welfare responded to a bottlenose dolphin stranding in Wellfleet Tuesday morning. Wellfleet Fire Department Group 4 with the forestry unit responded to the dolphin stranding, according to a press release from the Wellfleet Fire Department. Water from the forestry truck was used to help keep the dolphins moist and cool. Firefighters also helped to transport the dolphins to IFAW's transport vehicles.

Temporary identification tags were placed on the dolphins that stranded Monday. A temporary satellite tag was fitted onto one of the dolphins which helped alert responders of their restranding in Wellfleet hours later.

The dolphins stranded next to the Wellfleet road that accesses Lieutenant Island which floods during high tides. IFAW's marine mammal rescue team and volunteers responded as did the Wellfleet Fire Department Group 4 with the forestry unit, according to a press release from the Wellfleet Fire Department. Water from the forestry truck was used to help keep the dolphins moist and cool. Firefighters also helped to transport the dolphins to IFAW's transport vehicles.

Wellfleet firefighter and EMT Ernie Cox uses water from the department's forestry truck to keep a dolphin moist and cool. International Fund for Animal Welfare responded to a bottlenose dolphin stranding in Wellfleet Tuesday morning.
Wellfleet firefighter and EMT Ernie Cox uses water from the department's forestry truck to keep a dolphin moist and cool. International Fund for Animal Welfare responded to a bottlenose dolphin stranding in Wellfleet Tuesday morning.

"Just before 7 a.m. the next morning, we learned that all 11 dolphins had restranded at Lieutenant Island in Wellfleet,” Kasper said in a press release. “The tide was incoming until 11:16 a.m., but the dolphins could not be released where they stranded. Our team moved quickly to extract the animals from treacherous mud, provide necessary health assessments and treatments, and transport the dolphins to Herring Cove in Provincetown, where they were all released back to the ocean.”

The mass stranding comes toward the end of an unprecedented summer due to the sheer number of dolphin strandings, the agency said. Since the end of June, the team has responded to 175 live stranded dolphins, which is over 2.5 times the annual average, Kasper added.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod dolphins: Double stranding in Brewster, then Wellfleet

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