信息来源于CTV News。
More than 120 dolphins stranded on a beach in the United States
On June 28, a resident of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, was about to take a walk on the coast, and when he walked near the harbor, he suddenly saw many dolphins lying on the muddy beach not far away! Some beaches are fluttering in shallow water, looking for a way out; Some dolphins are half covered by seawater, unable to move but calm; Some dolphins are completely exposed to the beach, and they are convulsing weakly.
He happened to know someone who was involved in the rescue, so he contacted the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), a non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing animals, to ask for their help.
The foundation immediately sent staff to the scene to check on the situation. According to the staff's statistics, there are 125 dolphins stranded in the area, all of them Atlantic spotted dolphins, and 10 have died at this time. Subsequently, the Foundation sent 25 Foundation staff and 100 volunteers to participate in the rescue activities.
The local government responded in a coordinated response, with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Group, the Center for Coastal Research, the Cape Cod American Volunteer Corps and the New England Aquarium joining the rescue effort to get the dolphins back into the water as quickly as possible.
Emergency rescue
The rescue effort lasted 12 hours under the scorching sun, and although it was exhausting, the rescuers did not dare to let up at all, hoping to give the dolphins the best chance of survival.
At the beginning of the rescue, the coast was at low tide, so rescuers began to rescue the dolphins on foot, moving the dolphins into the water and encouraging them to swim to the deep water on their own. By 5 p.m., the tide was rising, which was good news for both the dolphins and the rescuers, and the rescue team began to use boats to rescue the dolphins, and the rising sea level also helped the dolphins regain their ability to swim.
As of the morning of the 29th, the number of stranded dolphins near the port had been reduced to about 35, and they were not lying on the beach, but wandering in shallow water. A rescue team from the International Fund for Animal Welfare guided 10 beaches swimming in danger zones to deeper waters; Another rescue team spotted another group of 25 dolphins swimming very close to the shore in Eastham, which were also driven into deep water.
So far, the rescue work has come to a perfect end.
Why are there mass strandings?
Misty Niemeyer, IFAW Stranding Coordinator, said in a statement: "This rescue faced many challenges due to the large number of dolphins, their large size, their wide distribution, the harsh mud conditions and the complexity of the rescue sites. ”
Stacey Hedman, IFAW's Head of Communications, said: "IFAW handles an average of 268 animal strandings per year, but this is still the largest mass stranding in the organization's 26-year history!
Stacey Hedman described Cape Cod as "a place with muddy and dangerous conditions and extremely hostile environments." There is no clear explanation as to why the dolphins stranded en masse, and he said that most of the dolphins stranded in the area did not suffer from the clinically significant disease that caused them to be stranded. Then there are other reasons.
According to the foundation, more dolphins have stranded on Cape Cod's 12-mile coastline than anywhere else in the world. The area's gently sloping beaches, large tidal fluctuations, proximity to productive feeding grounds, the social nature of stranded species, and the hook-like shape of Cape Cod itself have contributed to making it a hotspot for large-scale dolphin stranding worldwide.