A family trip to the water took an interesting turn when dolphin rescue teams were called to assist a stranded pair in a Massachusetts swamp.
On December 8, officials from the Wareham Department of Natural Resources responded to a report about two dolphins stuck in the Beaverdam Creek area, which is part of a tributary that leads straight into the Atlantic and subsequently into Buzzards Bay.
Upon arrival, the teams discovered the dolphins—alive and alert, but partially out of the water in a wetland area, according to the Wareham Department of Natural Resources.
The authorities then reached out to the Marine Mammal Stranding Response Team from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), based in Cape Cod.
The IFAW team carefully transported one of the dolphins using a stretcher to a safer location for an initial health assessment.
“Our team managed to extract the animal without issue and transported it using a specially designed rescue vehicle,” highlighted Stacey Hedman, IFAW’s senior director for communications.
The dolphins were weighed: the smaller one was about 90 pounds, while its larger counterpart came in at around 150 pounds.
Further checks indicated that they were a mother and her dependent young female. Concerns arose regarding the mother’s responsiveness and some unusual blood test results, but they were deemed fit enough for release into the ocean at West Dennis Beach, located in Dennis, Massachusetts.
“Releasing the dolphins in an area with plenty of other dolphins should improve their chances for social interaction and survival,” Hedman explained. “Both animals have satellite tags and are being monitored successfully.”
