Crews Battle Historic Dolphin Stranding Off Cape Cod

Cape Cod is seeing a dolphin emergency unlike anything Massachusetts has logged before. Nearly 50 bottlenose dolphins have stranded along a nine-mile stretch of shoreline, prompting a two-day rescue push that the International Fund for Animal Welfare calls the state's largest known event for that particular species. The trouble began early Monday, when up to 30 dolphins were reported stuck at First Encounter Beach in Eastham, per Fox News; most floated free as the tide rose, but five or six died before help arrived.

By Tuesday, 19 more dolphins were found in three locations, some with their bellies on the ocean bottom, per Fox and WCVB. All were later refloated and two were fitted with satellite tags so experts can track whether separated groups reunite. Rescuers—who used boats, drones, and scouts to guide the animals out of danger, per the Cape Cod Times—say the typically offshore animals have been edging closer to Cape Cod in recent years, bringing them into the dangerous inner Cape, where broad, shallow flats prove treacherous for the 600-pound marine mammals once the tide recedes. The IFAW warns beachgoers never to push stranded dolphins back to sea, which can cause further trauma.