11 dolphins rescued after becoming stranded in Wellfleet
Rescuers with the International Fund for Animal Welfare saved nearly a dozen dolphins that were stranded across multiple spots in Wellfleet over two days beginning Saturday morning.
The fund got a call around 8 a.m. Saturday, warning that six or more dolphins were swimming in Wellfleet’s Chipman’s Cove, a “known stranding hotspot” because of its shallow bays, complex tidal flats and hook-like geography. Volunteers soon found 12 dolphins in the area, the fund wrote in a statement Sunday evening.
By low tide, around 10:30 a.m. Saturday, several of the dolphins began stranding at different locations in Wellfleet. In all, seven of the 12 dolphins stranded, with some still swimming, according to the statement.
Volunteers were able to pull those dolphins out of the water and into the fund’s custom-built mobile dolphin rescue unit. There, they received veterinary treatments, such as IV fluids and other supportive care, on the way to a release site off Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown, according to the statement.
Early Sunday morning, five dolphins were seen again in the Herring River Gut. Of those five, one died before volunteers arrived. But the remaining four were taken from the area and released to deeper water off Provincetown, according to the statement.
“These strandings happen fast, and every minute counts,” said Nicole Hunter, response manager at IFAW, in the statement. “Our teams worked through rising heat, shifting tides, and difficult terrain to reach and support these dolphins. We know each animal is an individual life, and every rescue is an act of hope.”
All 12 dolphins were common dolphins, a species often seen in waters off Cape Cod. The group included both male and female dolphins, ranging from juveniles to adults, according to the statement.
The fund has responded to about 100 dolphin and porpoise stranding events across Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts this year.
“To see dolphins stranded is always heartbreaking,” Hunter continued. “What sustains us — the rescue teams, the volunteers, the veterinarians — is seeing those same animals swim away, sometimes weak but alive, buoyed by the rescue efforts. It reminds us why we do this work.”
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