CONTACT: Sue Knapp
PHONE: (617) 973-5213
EMAIL: [email protected]
White-Sided Dolphin Emergency Stranding Update
As of 10:00 a.m. Monday, Feb 2 Count: 60 white-sided dolphins and 11 common dolphins dead on several Cape Cod beaches - about 16-18 successfully herded back out to sea
Biologists and veterinarians from the New England Aquarium continue the work of gathering blood and tissue samples and performing necropsies (animal autopsy) on the dolphins. It will be several days before any results will be available. While the cause of strandings is unknown, biologists believe that the new moon, coupled with the unusually high tide and the storm off the coast, all contributed to the event. The last major white sided dolphin stranding was in 1995 - about 30 animals. While the cause of the stranding is unknown, one theory is that the presence of mostly male common dolphins, not a usual occurance in the wild, may have caused the mostly female white-sided to become stressed and scattered. This in addition to the extremely high tides and the storm off the coast all probably contributed to the event.
Scenario: On Thursday morning, January 29, four white-sided dolphins stranded on a beach in Wellfleet Harbor. They were fitted with identifying tags and pushed back out to sea. In the meantime, the New England Aquarium/Fleet Bank Marine Animal Rescue Team was dispatched, and they departed Boston for the site. Throughout the morning, more dolphin sightings were reported. None had stranded or beached; they were all in the water, albeit close to shore. As the tide was unusually high, Aquarium staff had to wait until the afternoon tide receded before attempting to approach the animals to assess their condition.
On Friday, most reports were of dead dolphins, including a large group of about 25 dead animals on Great Island in Wellfleet. The Aquarium's Rescue Team, however, focused their efforts on the few live animal sightings that were reported. The good news is that two teams of rescue workers in small motor boats were able to herd off two separate groups of white-sided dolphins toward the open ocean.
Saturday was spent coordinating groups of volunteers to collect dead animals from various locations. These animals were mainly taken to the Wellfleet Audubon Sanctuary for necropsy work. At about 7 p.m., there was one report of a live dolphin sighted. It was in very poor condition and was euthanized.
On Sunday, work continued to necropsy the animals and reach a total mortality figure. We remain hopeful that the animals that were herded out on Friday remain at sea.
Background: Atlantic white-sided dolphins range in size from 6 to 9 feet. They are found between southern Greenland and northern Virginia. They are known to travel in pods or herd of up to 1000 individuals. This species is not endangered or threatened. White-sided dolphins usually strand in pairs but are also known to strand in groups of up to 100 animals. Historically, these highly social, deep-water dwellers do not survive strandings.
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Fleet Bank is the proud sponsor of the New England Aquarium/Fleet Bank Marine Animal Rescue Team.
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