Extracted from an email sent by Katie Moore:
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:40:34 -0500
Dear Colleagues,
We would like provide you with a brief update regarding the protracted
mass stranding event of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) along the
shores of Cape Cod, MA USA. Many of you have likely seen some of the
news coverage of this event. We wanted to provide you with information
directly from the lead response team.
The event began on 12 January 2012 and lasted for 36 days, with the
last animal found on 16 February 2012. We have not had live animal
strandings since 14 Feb. and have not had any reports of dead animals
since 16 Feb.
Here is where the tally currently stands:
Total number of common dolphins: 179
Found alive: 71
Found dead: 108
- Of the 71 dolphins found alive by staff and
volunteers:
- 53 successfully released
- 3 released and re-stranded
- 11 died
- 4 humanely euthanized
Complete health assessments were conducted on all live stranded animals
including physical exams, heart rate and resp. rate, CBC and chemistry.
Select animals also received advanced diagnostics such as ultrasound
exams. Those animals deemed healthy enough were released. Most were
transported over land to open ocean facing beaches to reduce the
likelihood of re-stranding. Due to logistical constraints, ten animals
at the end of the event were released from the stranding site and herded
offshore to deeper water.
Satellite tags were deployed on 11 animals. Tag data indicate that the
dolphins are utilizing known habitat within this region.
Necropsies have been completed on 9 of the animals for which time of
death was known. Several animals remain in the freezer pending
necropsy. A minimum of Level A (basic data and samples) were collected
from all stranded animals. Every reported animal (all 179) was
examined.
There have been no consistent pathologies noted in the live or deceased
dolphins. Although lab results are still pending for many analyses,
there is no indication at this time to suggest any one cause for this
event. Pending analyses include, but are not limited to:
histopathology, microbiology, virology, etc. Furthermore, there is no
evidence suggesting that acoustic trauma is a cause for this event.
Working with NOAA and the US Navy, we have confirmed that the only
activity on the east coast of the US during this time frame took place
off the mid-Atlantic and SE Atlantic coasts and did not involve active
sonar. The nearest activity was in Virginia, too far away to have
affected these animals within Cape Cod Bay. Also, if we approach this
logically: if activity off the mid-Atlantic were causing this event, we
would also see similar mass strandings stretching along the coastline
between Cape Cod and the mid-Atlantic, but, we are not. I have spoken
with other regional Stranding network members, and no above average
numbers of common dolphin strandings have been documented. We are still
seeking information regarding the possibility of other industrial
activities off the coast of Massachusetts during this period. Of
significant note, however, are other changes in the greater Gulf of
Maine ecosystem as noted by other researchers. We are attempting to
compile environmental (physical and chemical oceanographic data) as well
as biological data to analyze for possible correlations to this event.
For more info and links to some of the media reports, please go to
www.ifaw.org <http://www.ifaw.org> , and
http://www.ifaw.org/us/our-work/animal-rescue/marine-mammal-rescue-and-r
esearch
<http://www.ifaw.org/us/our-work/animal-rescue/marine-mammal-rescue-and-
research> .
Kind regards,
Katie Moore
Katie Moore | Manager | Marine Mammal Rescue and Research
__________________________________________________________
IFAW - International Fund for Animal Welfare
World Headquarters
290 Summer Street - Yarmouth Port, MA 02675
tel. 1.508.744.2000 email. rescue@ifaw.org <mailto:rescue@ifaw.org>
Saving Animals in Crisis Around the World www.ifaw.org
<http://www.ifaw.org/>
--- In MARINE_BIOLOGY_INTERNATIONAL@yahoogroups.com, "lynnsl1" <lynnl1@...> wrote:
>
> Unexplained dolphin strandings continue in Mass.
>
> Feb 16, 2012 3:12 AM EST
>
>
> By JAY LINDSAY
> Associated Press
>
> WELLFLEET, Mass (AP) - There's no good spot on Cape Cod for dolphins to continue this winter's massive and unexplained beachings, but a group of 11 has chosen one of the worst.
>
> The remote inlet down Wellfleet's Herring River is a place where the tides recede fast and far, and that's left the animals mired in a grayish-brown mud one local calls "Wellfleet mayonnaise."
>
> Walking is the only way to reach the animals, but it's not easy. Rescuers crunch through cord grass and seashells before hitting a grabby muck that releases a footstep only after a sucking pop. One volunteer hits a thigh-deep "hole" and tumbles forward. The mud covers his face like messy war paint the rest of the morning.
>
> Rescuers make a quick assessment once they reach the animals.
>
> One dolphin is dead, but the other 10 appear healthy, and some bang their tails in the shallows, struggling to move. Rescuers decide the best course is to wait for the incoming tide to free the dolphins, then boats can try to herd them out of trouble. The only other alternative is hauling them to a waiting trailer, and open water. But the trailer is nearly a mile away.
>
> Waiting has risks. Dolphins can't survive long on land and there's no guarantee the boats can push the dolphins on to safety.
>
> "Now's where we start crossing our fingers," said Brian Sharpe of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, as he heads for a boat.
>
> A year ago, Wednesday's 11 stranded dolphins would have seemed remarkable. Now, they just add to a growing tally.
>
> In the last month, 177 short-beaked common dolphins have stranded on Cape Cod, and 124 have died. The total is nearly five times the average of 37 common dolphins that have stranded annually during the last 12 years.
>
> So far, there's no explanation.
>
> Workers at the IFAW, which has led the rescue efforts, tag and take blood samples of the stranded animals, necropsies have been done on dead dolphins and a Congressional briefing was held early this month in the push for answers. But researchers can offer only theories about things such as changes in weather, water temperature or behavior of the dolphins' prey.
>
> Geography may also play a role, if the dolphins are getting lost along the Cape's jagged inner coastline, in towns like Wellfleet.
>
> In mid-February, Wellfleet feels like a place long emptied out after a dimly-remembered party. A closed mini-golf course, candy store and drive-in theater are among the dormant summer businesses seen on a drive into town. A downtown road rolls past shuttered cottages and motel cabins.
>
> But Wellfleet is a hot spot for the dolphin strandings, in part because of features such as Jeremy Point, a thin peninsula that blocks the way to Cape Cod Bay if the dolphins wander too far into the town's harbor. The IFAW boat is charged with pushing the animals past the point Wednesday, once they're freed.
>
> Meanwhile, rescuers in orange vests and black waders work in pairs to move the dolphins on slings, bringing them closer together and pointed the right way.
>
> "We'll take advantage of the fact that they're social animals," said Kerry Branon, an IFAW spokeswoman. "We're hoping if we release them together, they'll stick together and then we'll herd them out around the point."
>
> Not all the dolphins are on board, though. One drifts off to the left, where he could beach again. The manager of the stranding team, Katie Moore, slides over, grabs its dorsal fin, and gives it a push in the right direction.
>
> "You're going the wrong way, buddy," she says.
>
> The inlet continues to fill and the dolphins break into waters that are deeper than the rescuers can follow, but they're in two groups. The IFAW's boat eventually follows one pod and the Wellfleet harbormaster takes another. The noise from the motors pushes the dolphins ahead. So do acoustic pingers, devices that make a sound that annoys the dolphins.
>
> From here, all the shore workers can do is await word from the boats, which will follow the dolphins until dark, if needed. The crew trudges off the beach and gathers later in a parking lot at the Wellfleet marina, where coffee and two boxes of doughnut holes will be served.
>
> Volunteer Mike Giblin, muck still on his face, sits in his truck and explains why, at 64, he can't wait to get an early-morning call to help the dolphins. The animals are special, says the retired high school teacher. He adds that the dolphins somehow know the workers are there to help. He's certain.
>
> Moore later smiles at the thought, but dismisses any mystical link with the animals.
>
> "They're wild animals," she says. "This is not comforting for them. They don't want to be touched."
>
> The day's gray cold has soaked through Moore and she's worn out. Help for her team is coming from different places; some workers from a Virginia aquarium assisted Wednesday. But she says the pace of the strandings has been exhausting.
>
> "We just don't know when it's going to end anymore," she said. "That wears on people."
>
> She's been encouraged by IFAW's success so far in getting dolphins back to sea. She also believes in the work.
>
> "I think that as humans we have such a huge impact on the ocean environment and on these animals in other ways, that this is our opportunity to do the right thing."
>
> As Moore speaks, her eyes flicker out to the harbor, where she can see the harbormaster's boat has led its group of dolphins to sea. But her agency's boat is still out, and she wonders if those dolphins will make it, or simply beach again. She wonders if she'll soon be second-guessing her decision to let the tide try to free the dolphins, rather than her workers.
>
> But it's too soon for answers.
>
> "Ask me tomorrow how I feel about that decision," she said.
>
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