July 29 - 30, 2002: Pilot Whales in Dennis and Wellfleet
On the morning of July 29, 2002, 55 pilot whales stranded during the early morning hours off Dennis, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod.
The stranded whales were discovered at six o’clock in the morning as low tide was approaching on the North side of Cape Cod. Member organizations of the Cape Cod Stranding Network immediately responded to the situation. More than 100 volunteers worked for hours pouring water over the animals and covering them in wet towels to keep them cool during the near record heat. As high tide was coming in around mid-day, 46 of the whales were ultimately returned to the water. Unfortunately, nine whales died naturally at the scene. One whale was euthanized by the response team after it began showing signs of severe stress.
At day’s end rescuers were hopeful these animals would return safely return to the sea and not strand again.
Late into the evening and as morning dawned on July 30, members of the Cape Cod Stranding Network watched the coast for signs that the pod had stranded again.
Early on Tuesday morning rescuers discovered the heartbreaking scene of the 46 pilot whales, again stranded in Wellfleet Bay just a few miles from the site of their previous rescue. This triggered a second day of response from the Cape Cod Stranding Network.
Despite the remote location -- a hike of at least two miles across the beach, marsh and mud -- more than 100 volunteers worked for hours pouring water over the animals and covering them in wet towels to keep them cool during the heat. Even though 14 whales died at the scene, 31 were once again returned to the water after the tide had come in.
However, within hours of their release all 31 whales once again stranded in Wellfleet near the Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary. After assessing the animal’s condition, rescuers euthanized 25 and the other 6 died naturally.
It was a sad, long day for the volunteers who made every effort to save the lives of these whales.
The Cape Cod Stranding Network returned to the scene on July 31, to remove the whales and take them to a facility so they can perform necropsies.
These strandings were some of the most dramatic in recent years and the largest stranding of pilot whales on Cape Cod in more than a decade. Pilot whales have extensive family structures and swim in groups, called pods, of 5 to 100 animals. They are still being hunted in some countries and little is known about the current total population of pilot whales worldwide.
March 24, 2002: Dolphins in Wellfleet
CCSN mobilized the stranding team at 9:00am on Sunday, 24 March 2002, following a report of five to six Atlantic white-sided dolphins in the creek behind the Harbormaster's office in Wellfleet.
Two boats were launched in an attempt to drive the dolphins out of the harbor before low tide, but the animals headed for the shallows and stranded. There were, in fact, only five animals; two volunteers were able to push them off the mud. This time, the boats were able to shepherd them into deeper water.
The boat stayed with the dolphins to make sure they kept going straight out as they left the harbor. They often make a "wrong turn" into Chipman's Cove -- which is deeper, but only temporarily -- and has no "escape route" to Cape Cod Bay. Finally, the five animals cleared the shallows in the harbor. This was another successful "herding" response.
About the same time, two porpoises were seen in the harbor. Although porpoises are usually able to navigate the Wellfleet shallows much better than dolphins, two teams were sent to survey the area to make sure they hadn't stranded.
Luckily, the porpoises were not found during the survey, but the carcasses of four other animals were located (three Atlantic white-sided dolphins and one harbor porpoise). Most of these animals had been dead for some time, so only level A data were collected.
Just after low tide, another report was received of a dolphin stranded in Provincetown. On assessment, the animal was found to be unfit for release and was euthanized.
March 16, 2002: Dolphins in Wellfleet
CCSN mobalized a response to a potential mass stranding just before 1:00pm on Saturday, 16 March.
The team mobilized at Lieutenants Island in Wellfleet.
A group of about eight Atlantic white-sided dolphins had recently stranded but re-floated off Lieutenant's Island. They were in danger of stranding again as the tide dropped through the afternoon.
Volunteers went into the bay in two boats with acoustic deterrents known as "pingers," while three other teams went to sites on land. The animals were successfully herded out of the immediate shallow-water danger around Lieutenants Island but later stopped responding to the herding and would not leave the main channel leading out of Wellfleet Bay past Great Island.
Despite our best attempts, they were still in the channel when it became too dark to see approaching low tide at 7:30pm Saturday night.
Knowing that these animals were likely to still be in the area, the stranding team remained on alert and responded swiftly when mobilized again just before 8:00am on Sunday morning.
The dolphins had moved during the night but all but two were dead by the time the team arrived. The two live animals were in difficult terrain, but we managed to reach them both. On assessment, they were found to be too sick for a rescue-and-release attempt, so the decision was made to euthanize them.
The rest of the day was spent recovering the carcasses for necropsy - a grim job, which is physically as well as emotionally taxing.
It was a long and draining weekend for the team who put so much energy into trying to save these animals. While this was a disappointing and sad couple of days, it has at least taught us more about herding dolphins, which is a relatively new preventative measure.
March 5 - 6, 2002: Dolphins in Wellfleeta
CCSN volunteers responded to an incident on 5 March and managed to relocate and release six of an estimated 14 Atlantic white-sided dolphins that stranded in Wellfleet.
On 6 March, CCSN again mobilized in Wellfleet, this time to help with the retrieval of three carcasses, and to be on standby in case any of the dolphins swimming in the harbor got into trouble at low tide.
There were actually four carcasses; two dolphins which were retrieved for necropsy, one dolphin that had been dead a long time, and one harbor porpoise that had been dead for at least a couple of days.
The good news was that none of these animals were those we had responded to the previous day, so we assumed that our animals may be swimming free out in the ocean.
January 27, 2002: Dolphins in Wellfleet
While responding to a report of two dead dolphins in Brewster on 27 January 2002, CCSN received a report of eight to ten dolphins swimming in shallow water behind the harbor in Wellfleet (at low tide there is little or no water in this area).
With a window of just two to three hours until dead-low tide (-1 foot, due to the full moon), the staff and volunteers successfully herded approximately 12 animals out of Wellfleet Harbor to Billingsgate Shoal using Dukane Netmark 1000 pingers (acoustic deterrents).
While these 12 dolphins were being herded to safety, an additional animal stranded and died. As the dolphins were moving into the safety of deeper water, the tide dropped dramatically in the harbor; six animals were found stranded.
One small individual in this group was already dead by the time stranding personnel arrived (most likely the cause of the stranding of the other five). These dolphins were quickly assessed and transported to Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown. At the release site, blood samples were collected, the animals were re-assessed and tagged, then released into open water.
In total, 17 animals were rescued and two died of natural causes. There have been no reports of any of these dolphins re-stranding.
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