Two dolphins rescued from Beaverdam Creek
The dolphins were loaded onto a soft mat and transported by a team from International Fund for Animal Welfare. Photos by Brandy Muz
Two dolphins were placed next to each other on the wagon.
The team gathered to lift one of the two dolphins while Wareham police maintained traffic.
The team lifts the first dolphin inside the rescue truck.
The second dolphin.
The second dolphin is carried into the truck to see the on-hand vet.
The team wheels the pair of dolphins toward the rescue truck.
The dolphins being taken through the yard.
The MacDonald's yard transformed into a rescue site.
The dolphins were loaded onto a soft mat and transported by a team from International Fund for Animal Welfare. Photos by Brandy Muz
Two dolphins were placed next to each other on the wagon.
The team gathered to lift one of the two dolphins while Wareham police maintained traffic.
The team lifts the first dolphin inside the rescue truck.
The second dolphin.
The second dolphin is carried into the truck to see the on-hand vet.
The team wheels the pair of dolphins toward the rescue truck.
The dolphins being taken through the yard.
The MacDonald's yard transformed into a rescue site.
A Cromesset Road home was transformed into a marine rescue station when two dolphins became stranded alongside Beaverdam Creek.
At approximately 10:45 a.m. Monday, Dec. 8 the Wareham Department of Natural Resources received a call about two live stranded dolphins in the marshes of Beaverdam Creek and successfully rescued them from the property.
Harbormaster Garry Buckminster said the department was the first on the scene, and contacted Cape Cod-based marine rescue organization International Fund for Animal Welfare for assistance. The organization relocates stranded animals of seals, whales, porpoises and dolphins across Cape Cod and Southeastern Massachusetts.
"Luckily for us, the common dolphin is not so common washing up here," Buckminster said.
A usual sight in the waters off Massachusetts, the short-beaked common dolphin is one of the most abundant species of dolphins in the world, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare team responded with marine animal rescue trucks and volunteers to conduct the rescue. The operation was led by Necropsy Manager Nicole Hunter.
The dolphins, predicted to be around 90 and 150 pounds respectively, were carried out of the marsh together through the backyard of Joe and Donna MacDonald's Cromesset Road home. Hunter said the act of being out of the water is physiologically stressful to the animals.
"We have them on soft mats to help with that," she said. "There are other various things keeping them calm so they can survive out of water. But that's not to say that's the best place for them. It's definitely important to get them back in the water as soon as possible."
Hunter said the dolphins will be examined by the organization’s vet who was in the rescue truck. The organization is unsure if they will track these particular dolphins, but said past rescues tend to swim back offshore and around the New England states.
"They will get a full health assessment, and if they're deemed healthy they will be released," Hunter said.
Unlike sunfish, recently sighted in Onset Bay, Hunter said dolphins don't strand due to cold water. She said there is an uptick in strandings this time of year, but not around Wareham.
"The vast majority of our strandings happen on Cape Cod, specifically in Wellfleet," she said.
Buckminster said that he's unsure of how the animals end up stuck in areas like Beaverdam Creek, but guesses the currents of the Cape Cod Canal push unlucky sealife the wrong way. From start to finish, he predicted the rescue took around an hour and a half.
"There's a lot of water flow coming right out of the canal, so you've got a pretty heavy punch," he said. "I'm not sure if it directs them into Onset and our waters or what happens."
Buckminster said it has been years since the last reported stranding.
"We had one a few years back that was struck by a boat, so even then it wasn't a regular stranding that we normally see," he said.
As for the MacDonalds, they said they were glad to give up their yard. Living in the home for 40 years, there has never been a marine rescue on their property.
"I'm just happy that they're safe," Donna MacDonald said.
