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IFAW via Reuters
Two dolphins are prepared for release Monday into Cape Cod Bay.
BOSTON -- Nineteen dolphins that stranded themselves along Cape Cod have been treated and released, but several dozen others have perished since the string of strandings began last Thursday.
Eight that stranded alive did not survive, said Katie Moore, manager for marine mammal rescue at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, while another 32 washed ashore already dead.
Of the 19 survivors, one was a calf and another a pregnant mom.
Strandings typically happen from January to April, but the pattern this year is unlike past years, when just one dolphin or a group would be found on a single beach, she said.
"I've been doing this for 15 years and this is only the second season I've seen it like this," she said.
Julia Cumes / AP
A dolphin is given a hearing test before being released back into Cape Cod Bay at Scusset Beach on Saturday.
"It feels like stranding after stranding after stranding," Moore added. "It's definitely out of the ordinary."
The dolphins began beaching themselves on Thursday, with a single dolphin stranded near the town of Wellfleet, said IFAW spokeswoman Kerry Branon.
On Saturday, the busiest day for rescuers, at least 37 dolphin were found spanning five towns along 20 miles of Cape Cod, Branon said.
Cape Cod is among the top locations for the phenomenon worldwide, she said. Beaching of dolphins has been happening for centuries, but researchers are still trying to determine what brings the dolphins to Cape Cod Bay this time of year.
The group actions tend to happen, in part, because dolphins operate with a group mentality, where many others may follow one animal toward shallow water, IFAW said.
The animals, which tend to get stuck on the bay side of the hook-shaped Cape Cod, are assessed by rescuers and then taken to deeper water on the ocean side and released.
Marine biologists check for signs of stress and body condition, among other factors, and tag the dolphins with an identifier before release.
A handful of animals have also been affixed with a tag to track movement and transmit data to researchers, Branon said.
"We also were able to test the hearing on one animal as well ... important data for our project which will hopefully aid in conservation measures to protect marine mammals from ocean noise," Moore said in a statement.
Moore said this year's series of dolphins stranded on beaches reminded her of the 2005-2006 winter, when dolphins beached themselves over a 40-day period.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
What do you say...no one likes to hear about stories like this...I hope a thousand more , take their place out at sea....
I hope they at least eat them. I'll bet dolphin is good!
People like you are the problem with this world what do you also eat dogs and cats? You're useless
destiny- you think youre better than someone just because you dont eat cat or dog? first world b*tch
I don't understand what's killing them? Just because they "get stuck on the bay side of the hook-shaped Cape Cod" shouldn't mean they die..what is going on? I thought dolphins were one of the smartest creatures. It's a shame they can't find their way back out to sea! Thank God for the people who help the helpless animals such as the marine biologists in this situation.
Like it or nor Destiny, it would be wasteful to just dispose of them.
It's not like they were hunted and killed. They have been killing themselves like this far longer than we have been a species.
Last I checked, no one has dolphins for domesticated household pets. Poor comparison. Is everyone useless that doesn't think like you do? There are parts of the world where dogs are not pets and cows are sacred.
What do you suggest they do with the dead dolphins? Dig graves and hold dolphin funerals?
JimColorado, NYMike, dolphin tastes like pork, or so I've read. However, they're high on the food chain and they register very high levels of lead, mercury and cadmium. It would take very small amounts of dolphin meat to cause lead and mercury poisoning. Eating dolphin is a very bad idea from a health standpoint, so just say no to dolphin.
Evidently you both failed to see The Cove. Look it up and see it however you can. It's informative on this subject. The Japanese used to serve dolphin to their schoolchildren. Mercury poisoning ensued, so this food is off the menu permanently. However, one suspects neither of you were serious and that both of you were trolling here with your [sarcasm]great ideas about consuming dolphin meat.[/sarcasm]
Actually Destiny, I have eaten dog several times in Asia. Never cat though. I believe we should eat dog in the USA. We put to sleep Millions of them and burn them up! We bury them. They are a very real protein source and are food to many around the world. So it's ok to kill them here in shelters but not eat them after they're dead???
jimcolorado:
Shame on those restaurant owners who offer the dish.
Mahi-Mahi is not the same dolphin as the mammal. Please check your sources! (google it)
Could it be that the radioactivity currently being leaked into the sea 24/7 at Fukushima has caused the dolphin's illness??
Are the dolphins trying to tell us something?
Parakeet - coal mine
NAaaaaah..........
Mahi Mahi is a yellow green fish, also called dolphin, but not the mammal, dolphin. You're an idiot.
And JimColorado: Actually, people like you are what's wrong with the world. You're trying to treat the symptom and not the cause by encouraging people to eat dog and cat, when we need to be promoting spaying and neutering and breeding restrictions to cut down on so many homeless animals. People grow a heart and some morals before posting ignorant comments.
Clearly they are returning to their ancient burial ground, much like elephants do. As there physical bodies give out on them, they are instinctively drawn to this inately remembered place where their life spirit is released back to the cosmos. It's quite beatiful.
Mahi-Mahi is a different fish. Sometimes called dolphin, it is also known as Dorado. Don't worry, nobody is eaqting flipper!
A dog will eat anything including cat crap and rotten flesh. You eat what the dog eats.
If the dolphins test in high levels of mercury, could THAT not be the cause of the beaching problem?
Do you eat pork? Pigs will eat anything too yet people love to eat pork.
.....and a third of the grasses will burn up, and a third of the inhabitants of the oceans will perish.
If 37 dolphins are a third of the inhabitants of the oceans then we are in deep sh!t
If there is anything on this planet that can save all of these dolphins as well as all other endangered species on this spinning blue green marble, it would be one of the fabulous presidential contenders of the one and only true free country on this planet, the USA!!! A place where everyone matters and everyone is the same no matter how much money they have!!!
Jesus is watching what passage or revelation is this in the Bible ?
They beach themselves because Masschusetts sucks.
LOFL!!
GO PATS!!!!!! Hoping there is another superbowl ring for GOLDEN BOY, ( Brady)!!!!!!
Keep up the good work IFAW, we're all routing for the dolphins and you.
No more rings for GOLDEN BOY. It's Flacco's time to shine!!!
How 'bout them Cowboys!!! (sarcasm)
Sad....
please take care of those dolphins they are precious mammals
They seem to think so over at the Red Lobster.
I see the humor in that but,then again,I don't.
@nibor, "They seem to think so over at the Red Lobster." WRONG! Red Lobster and other restaurants serve Blue Dolphin or Mahi Mahi! It is unusual to still see it called Blue Dolphin as some folks get confused and think it's the Bottle Nose variety.
Blue Dolphin is a pretty silver-blue FISH and tastes good. Bottle-Nose and other dolphin are MAMMALS! No relation whatsoever.
People have never served mammalian dolphin to people. Now you know :~)
Wrong Scott!!! The Japanese regularly caught and ate dolphin (the mammal) until recently. They only stopped because they found out dolphin meat contained high levels of heavy metals (such as mercury and cadmium) because their position high on the food chain concentrated the toxins. Pressure was also brought to bear on them because of the documentary called "The Cove".
I've never seen such ignorance on display in my life. Never / ever underestimate the stupidity of the American people. Mahi Mahi / Dolphin is not a porpoise, it is a high finned fish that is green with yellow patches and looks nothing like the Dolphin's that this thread is discussing. Mahi Mahi is just the west coast version of Atlantic or Gulf dolphin which is what is sold at any seafood restaurant. It is against the law to net, fish for porpoises and no restaurant has ever served porpoise in the USA.
and Jeopardy George is right.
JeopardyGeorge
Did weasles rip your flesh?
They have been doing this for thousands of years. There is a reason they do it. We have no idea what the reason is. Could be parasites. People freak out over it but its all for good. People like to help. But this is natural.
I know it sounds terrible to most people, but I agree with @Jimcolorado, why let good meat go to waste? They donate the wild hogs that get taken taken off of farms down south. Pigs are as smart or smarter than dolphins...
Gotta be sure the meat is safe to eat first. I agree that it is sad. It is also natural and will continue to happen long after we're gone. Don't let those deaths be in vain. Feed people with that meat(if it's safe)!
Pigs aren't near as smart as dolphins. Elephants and whales navigate and communicate over vast distances with low frequencies that are inaudible to humans. We know such frequencies put off by wind turbines can get whales lost. We have all kinds of noise pollution and radio waves out there that could potentially cause things like this. That is not natural, except in cases of seismic activity and solar storms.
They have been doing it long before we even knew what a radio wave was. Something else is causing this. Whether it be magnetic, faulty dolphin sonar, lunar, solar, or any other possible unknown reason.
Dolphin meat is high in lead, cadmium and mercury. Please, eat some, bon appetit!
Harry -- I agree. Every so often, for no apparent reason, dolphins and whales beach themselves. No one has been able to figure out why, although many theories exist. Sad, but Nature is what it is. At least some were able to be saved.
Nature can be strange. Look at the lemmings. Maybe these dolphins are disturbed by noise like some autistic people. There could be somthing natural or of human origin making them miserable enough to commit suicide. Dolphins are often said to be the next smartest thing to people, and it wouldn't be unthinkable for them to find a way to end their suffering. You ever have a fish that just wouldn't stay in its aquarium?
@blahblah, the whole Lemming thing was staged by Disney. I know that sounds like a conspiracy theory, but its actually true. Way back when, when Disney produced kid-friendly wildlife tv shows, they actually staged the Lemmings diving off the cliff. It was actually a pretty ingenious idea for the time. Cruel, but ingenious. You should look it up. There is old B&W footage of how they did it.
do not people have any feelings atall about our mammals of the deep? have you not seen the movie (dolphin tale)? winter is a great motivater for a dolphin.
it seems that the more we think we know of our world,the less we seem to understand it. Its either amazing or scary,that we know more about Mars and our moon than we do our oceans. We are still DISCOVERING animals on this planet. Animals can tell when a disaster is about to happen. Earth quakes,even our most sophisticated equipment,is left in the dust,compared to what animals seem to know. Maybe we can't compare how we are more inteligent than they are. But when it comes to nature,they seem to run circles around us. We may never understand why but we will always be amazed.
This is all part of some ancient natural order of things..that we will likely never understand and possibly shouldn't..because if we delve too deeply into it with too much sentimentality and begin to succeed in saving a large majority of animals in such plights, who knows what that interferance will cause in its place? Its certainly sad to watch and witness and i would be the first to run down there and laddle water into their blow holes,but i would never be sure then or now that i'd actually done the right thing other than to appease my emotions and myself.
Its a certainty these things have been going on since before we were walking up right and will continue to go on long after we have crawled back into the ooze...that is unless we take everything else with us. They always tint these happenings as if they are on an increase and the increase having to be caused by some impact from humanity,but the fact of the matter is on an increase or not, all life is cyclic and such behavior has most likely occured with varying degrees of intensity long before we ever walked down a beach.
All part of the natural order of things? Even the marine mammal rescuer says that this is an exceptional event due to the number of beached strandings. I do know that the Navy uses dolphins to retrieve info about sea mines in the Persian Gulf. However intelligent they are they are also expendable to the Navy. Submarine testing of high frequency sonars can easily cause marine mammals to go crazy and bleed through their ear drums. These creatures can hear miles away in the ocean. We cannot.
Don't be so naive as to think that science cannot explain this.
Judgement call either way, but by helping maybe we can learn why they do it. It's in our nature to help and learn about our world, well some of us, for others...they just want to eat everything.
pouring water into their blow holes would only suceed in drowining them. Or is that your intent?
I'll put blame on the U.S Navy... The sh!t they do with sonar testing and other BS has been shown to hurt whales and dolphins..
just the U.S. Navy, all the other Navys are exempt... moron
Looks like you will have to find someone else to blame, as we have done sonar testing for less than 100 years. Not to mention, it happens globally.
Alphawet and NYDike- Typical Americans...
Alphawet doesn't understand that it was at Cape Cod and you know how many other Navy's patrol those waters.. ( Back at you F^ckTard..)
NYDike Is just believing what he has read from someone else posting, showing he can also cut and paste...
alphabet, you are the moron as we are the only Navy that tests sonar on Cape cod. or i am sure that you have some smart answer for that explanation as well. Dolphins have super sensitive hearing and our sonar pings from submarines can easily cause them pain and deafness to the point of eardrums bleeding. They can hear miles away in the water even though we can't.
i know how that stuff works. im not dense. im just saying that people will find any reason to point their condescending finger at the USA any way they can.
Gee Richard, do you feel manly name calling over the Internet?
You do know that is a sign of immaturity.
People cut and paste for clarity and childish people name call. If dolphins have been doing it for centuries, that means man made sonar isn't the cause.
I almost feel sorry for you.
alphabet26 who do you blame for the Dolphins beaching them selves before the Navy began doing any sonar pinging?
Probably trying to escape from the fishing nets from the fishing jerks in New England.
And yes, before anyone spouts off about this, I'm speaking from personal knowledge of these AH's.
Now explain the rest of the world. Dolphins have sonar that is better than ours. I find it hard to believe they would make a simple mistake of going the wrong way.
Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.
Jacques Yves Cousteau
I'm so glad there are people that will save such beautiful creatures
maybe they just wanted to see what an American snob looks like.
If anything the dolphins gave the elitist residents of Cape Cod a way to feel good about themselves.
maybe peta put them up to it to protest? or maybe they part of the occupy wall street....
Everyone is so quick to judge, US Navy, New England & the Pats, eating their meat? Those who think about these things have no compassion what-so-ever about the welfare of any animal, it seems to me! I have no respect for anyone who feels this way, and obviously you have no respect for mammal or any animal life! Dolphins are the most intelligent creatures in our oceans, and they grace us when we see them swim next to a boat! If someone is hurt and they are near water infested sharks, they have been known to kill sharks to protect someone wounded! I hope you live a good life, free of pain and suffering! I pray for all the people involved in the efforts to protect and save these gentle creatures of the sea, and may God bless you all!
I try to do my part I sign petitions to save animals , save our earth . I recycle, All of this plastic and trash in our Oceans and Toxic Environment.. Clean up Our Earth. I wish our Government would do something to clean up our Oceans , Streams , Rivers. Make Biodegradeable Plastic.. Oh I save Raccoons from the Metro Parks that get stuck in the trash cans and cannot get out, My Prayers are with all the animals and is with anyone that is Suffering.
I blame Chevy Chase. (anyone catch the Caddy Shack reference?)
Stories like this always make me sad. Until animals can talk and communicate with us, we'll likely never really know why they do this. All we can do is speculate.
Probably got sick from eating Ted Kennedy's carcas that was secretly deposited in the ocean so as not to pollute the soil of America.
What's your posting name again?
GOP carcass will be over each state as America votes down the clowns who pollute our democracy and rob us blind.
If the strandings are not caused by human activities ; the rescue groups could rig up ,uderwater equipment ,to broadcast dolphin ,distress calls ,or warning calls . If this worked , they would save alot of first aid and clean up work . KGK
By low jacking the surviving dolphins, as bad as it sounds, hopefully they do this again next year to better understand why.
when you die maybe some one will cut you up and eat you. don't waste meat........
Wow, tough crowd here today! By the way .......GO GIANTS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm glad that people did what they could to save them. In todays world it seems everyone is too selfish to lend a helping hand, so these kinds of stories make me have a little more faith in the human race.
I think they know more than we think. I think they are sensitive to the plight of the planet, more so than we. We don't even have the sense to save ourselves and future generations. Some of us may do the same in the near future. Others will continue to deny. We, and they may not have much time left.
This to me is like a parakeet in a coal mine.
They're trying to tell us something...
What could it possibly be...?
HMMmmmm
Actually Destiny, I have eaten dog several times in Asia. Never cat though. I believe we should eat dog in the USA. We put to sleep Millions of them and burn them up! We bury them. They are a very real protein source and are food to many around the world. So it's ok to kill them here in shelters but not eat them after they're dead???