Rescuers help stranded dolphins out to sea

WELLFLEET, Mass. -- A pod of dolphins moved out from shallow waters near Wellfleet on Wednesday. Those dolphins survived, but dozens of others either beached themselves or died.

Wednesday night, experts were struggling to find a solution to the strandings.

It’s the sight marine researchers hope to see: from Sky7 HD three dolphins swimming, jumping and most importantly, heading back out to sea.

“It was a really difficult day,” said Kerry Branon, Spokesperson for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

One of the dolphins got close to shore and had to be physically handled by rescuers who took a blood test, and tagged the mammal before turning it toward the others.

All three eventually herded by boats with pingers dropped into the water to steer the dolphins to safety.

“One of the animals did strand, so we rescued that animal. Simultaneously we had a team in a boat herding the other two animals out to deeper water. The three were able to join together and then we herded them all out,” Branon said.

Not every dolphin stranding story ends this way. Two thirds of the animals are dead by the time the researchers reach them. And the number of dolphin stranding this year is up incredibly over past year. There have been about 150 strandings already, with about 200 normal for a whole year.

The researchers don't have any definite answers about the why the dolphins strand themselves and why so many more are showing up on Cape Cod shores this year.

“If more dolphins need our help, we’ll be there to help them,” Branon said.

This time of year is the prime season for strandings; the first four months of the year.

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