Dolphin
Stranded dolphin rescue in Louisiana.
(Courtesy Louisiana Sea Grant College Program Louisiana State University)
An atypically large group of dolphins became trapped by low tide on beaches in Barnstable and Duxbury on Sunday afternoon, prompting a quick and successful effort by rescuers to save the creatures.
"I can't recall when last time an incident like this happened," Tony LaCasse, spokesman for the New England Aquarium, told
.
New England Aquarium assisted International Fund for Animal Welfare in the rescue efforts on the Bay State's southern shore.
Onlookers reported the dolphins becoming stranded in Duxbury -- where the most significant event occurred -- around 5 p.m.
The organizations sent rescuers to the scene immediately. Six of the animals eventually freed themselves, muscling their way to deeper waters. Rescuers crucially assisted several others. Two, unfortunately, died, according to The Globe.
Earlier, in Barnstable, IFAW collected and saved two dolphins stranded near the beach around 4:30 p.m.
Jane Hoppe, assistance stranding coordinator at the IFAW, told The Globe the organization has rescued a total of 152 stranded animals this year, many of which were dolphins.
"We're seeing a higher trend than usual years," she said.
In the first hours of the new year, on Jan. 1, more than a dozen members of the International Fund for Animal Welfare helped save 10 dolphins stranded in Wellfleet Harbor off Cape Cod.