PROVINCETOWN, MASS. (WHDH) - Four dolphins were released back into deeper waters off the Provincetown coast after a multi-day mission.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare first received reports Wednesday about several dolphins swimming close to the P-town shore. One of the dolphins was stranded. Humans intervened on land and by boat, which IFAW said stressed the animals prior to the professionals’ arrival.
“We knew as soon as we got that report and our volunteers went out there and confirmed it, that something had to be done,” said IFAW’s Director of Marine Mammal Rescue & Research Brian Sharp.
The team spotted the dolphins swimming farther off shore in Truro later Wednesday, but the tide was coming in at the time, prompting the team to wait and monitor the animals’ activity.
By early Thursday, volunteers identified four common dolphins swimming near the Wellfleet Pier. The animals’ behavior, dropping tides and the incoming boat traffic and heat prompted the IFAW to herd the dolphins closer to shore to increase the odds of a successful rescue.
Using a boat, Harbormaster vessel and several kayaks, the team coaxed the dolphins toward shallow water away from Chipman’s Cove, known to be a dangerous stranding area, and eventually brought the dolphins onto stretchers. IFAW said this process occurred “quickly and with minimal stress to the animals.”
IFAW transported the dolphins in a custom mobile dolphin rescue clinic to a release site off Provincetown. Along the way, Sharp said the team gave the dolphins a full health exam, IV fluids and other treatments. The four dolphins swam off as a pod together.
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