International Fund for Animal Welfare Responds To 60 Dolphins Beached At Cape Cod (RAW VIDEO)

More than 60 dolphins have been beached and stranded along 25 miles of coastline at Cape Cod since Jan. 12, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, or IFAW.

IFAW has saved 19 dolphins, releasing them back into the water. Another 27 are stranded and won't survive, while 32 washed ashore already dead, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Moore explained beached dolphins are typically found in the area, but not in such large numbers.

"It feels like stranding after stranding after stranding," Katie Moore, manager for the group's marine mammal rescue and research, told the newspaper. "It's definitely out of the ordinary."

Three-hundred volunteers and six staff members will continue to monitor the beaches for the next several months, according to the Chicago Tribune.

But it isn't just the beaches IFAW will be monitoring. In the past two years, more than 15 rescued dolphins have received tags, which are used to monitor the dolphins' conditions. This year, IFAW will do the same, according to the Boston Globe .

Lisa Witzke a coastal resident, described the rescue to the Globe:

“You see these animals that are so beautiful but they’re so stressed out,’’ Witzke said. “You feel such compassion and it’s such a humbling experience.’’

IFAW works with all animals, working to protect pets, groups of animals and even habitats by reducing commercial exploitation of animals around the world.

To get involved with IFAW, click here.

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Comments

[Olivia N]

05:46 AM on 02/10/2012

The likely reason: "Navy Training Blasts Marine Mammals with Harmful Sonar" January 26, 2012 - A coalition of conservation and American Indian groups today sued the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for failing to protect thousands of whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and sea lions from U.S. Navy warfare training exercises along the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. - “These training exercises will harm dozens of protected species of marine mammals—Southern Resident killer whales, blue whales, humpback whales, dolphins, and porpoises—through the use of high-intensity mid-frequency sonar.” - The Navy uses a vast area of the West Coast for training activities including anti-submarine warfare exercises involving tracking aircraft and sonar; surface-to-air gunnery and missile exercises; air-to-surface bombing exercises; sink exercises; and extensive testing for several new weapons systems. Also, in an article of 2010: "Beached Dolphins Are Often Deaf" - Study published November 3 in PLoS One. Researchers looking into the cause of dolphin strandings found that in some species, many of these stranded creatures are nearly deaf. That finding, which scientists gained from a study of the brain activity of the dolphins, could explain why such intelligent animals do something that appears pretty stupid: land themselves on a beach. Unable to use sound to find food or family members, these dolphins are often weak and disorientated. Every year, 1,200 to 1,600 whales and dolphins are found stranded off the U.S. coast, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

[OneVoiceOfReason]

03:23 PM on 01/19/2012

Are they stranding themselves on porpoise?

[jingles32]

01:18 PM on 01/19/2012

I live a few minutes from Corporation Beach in Dennis, Cape Cod, where several of the dolphins spoken of in the article, beached themselves over the weekend. It was a heartbreaking sight (none survived).

[american-dolt]

09:22 AM on 01/19/2012

They are Protesting "Cape Wind".

http://www.saveoursound.org/

[Mr Nightlinger]

09:20 AM on 01/19/2012

If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would guess that the military has tested some weapon in the waters of the Atlantic that resulted in this.

[caty306933]

02:29 PM on 01/19/2012

I believe this has happened with whales before. I think the military was testing something (soundwaves?) and it was causing whales to beach themselves. I remember hearing about it. Your theory is not that far off. It doesn't make sense that dolphins would be killing themselves without man's interference. Sad.

[traceymarie]

03:43 PM on 01/19/2012

Usaully when a pod beaches itself it is because of illness in the pod or the alpha animals, same with whales. BUT>>>>the military does do damage with their sonar testing, it hurts and pods ability to communicate and search for food and predators