Rescued dolphins now safe near Cape Cod

TRURO, Mass. (WWLP) - The beached dolphins that 22News saw getting rescued on Wednesday are now released and safe 10 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, but 10 more dolphins have stranded near Blackfish Creek in Wellfleet on Friday.

Nine dolphins stranded near Sea Pines Drive in Brewster, and with the help of some residents, the mammal rescue team saved all nine and released the animals Wednesday evening in the deep waters off the shores of Head of the Meadow Beach in Truro.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare rescue team told 22News, often the dolphins get injured during the stranding process and die, but this time, all nine in the pod were healthy.

Michael Booth, the IFAW spokesperson, said, “There are moments when we find them, and they haven't done well while stranding, so there are times when we find them dead, but it's not uncommon that we do have a chance like this to get there fast enough to find them alive and to support them and try to release them back to the wild.”

He also said, the rescue process has begun in Wellfleet for those 10 beached dolphins.

Wednesday's stranding brings the total number of beached dolphins so far in January to 111, making it the largest stranding event of a single species.

Out of those, 30 dolphins have been released successfully.

In a news release, IFAW Media Asset Manager Kerry Branon said, the staff and the volunteers are ready to rescue stranded dolphins on a short notice, and the team has set up a 24/7 hotline for Cape Cod residents to report any stranding sighting.

The hotline number is 508-743-9548.