9 of 16 dolphins rescued on Cape

WELLFLEET (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - Rescuers worked for a second day Friday to save surviving members of a pod of white-sided dolphins that became stranded after swimming into shallow mud flats off Cape Cod.

Over the two days, nine of 16 of the stranded animals had been rescued, five had died, and two could not be accounted for, rescuers said.

On Friday, two dolphins were rescued after high tide from the area known as Drummer Cove in Wellfleet and returned to deeper ocean waters, said Chris Cutter, spokesman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. The animals were in "pretty good shape considering everything they had been through," he said.

A third dolphin that had been trapped in the cove was rescued later in the day, and the team was evaluating it to determine if it was healthy enough to send back to sea, Cutter said.

Six other dolphins from among the total of 16 that stranded at Drummer Cove and nearby Lieutenant Island were released back into the ocean off Provincetown on Thursday night.

Rescuers said two dolphins had not been spotted since Thursday and Cutter said they may have found their way back to deeper waters, but could also turn up again when the tide goes out.

The heavy mud has made it dangerous for the dozens involved in the effort.

"Imagine quicksand, except that it's mud. You walk in and you sink up to your hips," said Cutter.

Biologists from the New England Aquarium attached satellite transmitters to two of the six dolphins that were rescued and released on Thursday.

Six hours later, at 2 a.m. on Friday, the dolphins were tracked about five miles south of their release point in Cape Cod Bay. At 5 a.m., they were moving northwest toward Boston's South Shore.

Aquarium officials said they believed the dolphins were staying together and the transmissions were seen as a positive sign that the animals had recovered from the trauma of the stranding.

Scientists say Atlantic white-sided dolphins can reach lengths of 9 feet and weigh up to 500 pounds. They are considered highly social and intelligent animals.

Mass strandings of marine mammals are not unusual, though scientists often disagree on the reasons why they occur. One leading theory is that the animals can become disoriented after chasing prey into shallow waters.