45 dolphins stranded in Wellfleet

By Denise Coffey

Posted Aug 9, 2020

WELLFLEET — When a call came in at 7 a.m. that 45 dolphins were stranded in a stretch of beach in Wellfleet known as The Gut, volunteers from the International Fund for Animal Welfare responded.

Almost 50 volunteers were on site by 8 a.m. trying to save the animals.

Stacey Hedman, global marketing startegy manager for IFAW, said it wasn’t clear how the dolphins got stranded.

“Cape Cod is a hook, and Wellfleet is a hook, and the tides are crazy there,” she said.

The animals were caught in The Gut between the 3:55 a.m. high tide and the 10:22 a.m. low tide on Sunday.

“It was a sad scene to see them out of the water, unable to swim,” Hedman said.

Volunteers were able to refloat most of the dolphins and send them back into deeper water. They used two boats and pingers to guide them back out, Hedman said.

The Wellfleet Harbormaster assisted with the rescue.

A total of 11 dolphins were rescued using beach-ready stretchers. Volunteers were able to give the dolphins IV fluids and vitamins and check their vital signs.

The dolphins were taken by trailer to Duck Harbor Beach and released, but two had to be euthanized.

“Forty-five dolphins is a crazy number for us,” Hedman said. She said the animals are usually released at Herring Cove or in Dennis, depending on the day, tides and traffic.

“We worked as fast as we could,” she said.

Some volunteers helped usher the dolphins out to sea and others worked on the rescue and release.

Teams will be watching from shore at different locations on Monday to make sure the dolphins don’t strand again. 

“We were happy to be able to guide them out and to rescue the rest,” Hedman said.

Misty Niemeyer, stranding coordinator with IFAW, said people should not go near the dolphins if they see them while out boating, as they may be disoriented or stressed. 

She said anyone who notices a dolphin or other animal that is stranded should call the fund’s marine mammal rescue hotline at 508-743-9548.