WELLFLEET—A local rescue team is reviewing its role in what rapidly became the largest stranding of dolphins in U.S. history.
The effort on June 28 to save more than 100 trapped dolphins in the Herring River was a race against time and the suction of mud, with the animals outnumbering rescuers four-to-one.
Brian Sharp, director of marine mammal rescue for the nonprofit International Fund for Animal Welfare in Yarmouth Port, led the effort to save 102 of the 146 stranded dolphins.
Sharp spoke to Morning Edition host Patrick Flanary about the event.
Patrick Flanary We're talking about a milestone here. Your job is to rescue animals on a daily, weekly, yearly basis. But you've never done anything like this before.
Brian Sharp No, not at all. I have been in this field doing marine mammal rescue for 26 years. I've worked from Florida to Massachusetts, and have had the opportunity to go to different parts of the world and assist with rescues. I have never seen anything like this. It was incredible. It took my breath away. But then, we shifted gears and tried to figure out what how we could triage and try to help the most animals as possible.
PF And how do you frame that in your mind? Because in front of you, you're looking at a lot of potential casualties. So where do you start when you've got more than 100 dolphins to rescue at once?
BS We had to divide our personnel up. We had about seven staff and 30 volunteers out on the mudflats with us. And for those who aren't familiar with the Herring River, there's treacherous mud. The water completely empties out in most of the areas. The closest deep water was more than three quarters of a mile away. And once you stop walking, you can sink in up to your knee or up to your thigh, depending on where you are. And that's what the dolphins were trapped in.
It suctions you to the mud. And so we had animals we were trying to keep from inhaling mud as they were lying on their side. We got them upright, started supportive care, documented which animals were alive and which animals were dead. We were outnumbered by about four to one. And so we had to spread our resources thin to try to reach as many animals as possible.
PF How critical is timing? How many minutes, how many hours do you have?
BS The report came in as the animals were seen swimming in shallow waters. Luckily, some residents in the area saw it, knew that this was not right, and that this was not an area that dolphins can get out of. So they called our hotline. The initial report came in of possibly 10 animals swimming in the Herring River, which is never good. And then a couple of minutes later, as our first responders arrived on scene, the number grew to 50, then to 80. And when we got there we realized it was more than 100.
PF I understand that IFAW has a mobile dolphin-rescue unit that accommodates nine dolphins, but that wasn't going to help in this case.
BS Exactly. For those familiar with the way we typically respond on Cape Cod, we're dealing with mass strandings involving up to nine animals. Staff and volunteers put the animals on stretchers, treat them, transport them to Provincetown and release them. That was not the case with this. We had our mobile dolphin-rescue clinic, but it was serving as our incident command center.
Waters rush out quickly and then they rush in just as fast. And so it gave us just over two hours to try to help as many animals as possible. And once these waters come back in, that is the most dangerous time because we need to maintain human safety.
PF This wasn't something that you could accomplish immediately. Because this was so unprecedented, how did you stagger that work?
BS The main event started June 28, and then we had live animals that we were either responding to that were beached or live animals that were still swimming in the harbor. Our teams were working until at least sunset. It exhausts the staff. We brought in colleagues from other parts of the region. It was good in that it helped provide some assistance and mutual aid, but it also allowed them to be able to experience this event and learn by working alongside our staff.
PF What attracted so many of these dolphins to the same spot and rendered them all disoriented at the same time?
BS One of the things that we always want to remind people of is that Cape Cod is unique. Cape Cod is, and it has historically been, a stranding hotspot. Our geography is part of what makes that the case. Talking to fishermen, we know that there have been a lot of bait, fish or prey resources in the area, especially squid, that can bring the animals in close to shore because of our unique geography. Tide goes out and can drop 9 to 12 feet. Those animals can be forced in, and that's exactly what we think happened with this event. It was just a very large pod that came in to the southeast corner of Cape Cod Bay; the tide rushed out, forcing the animals further up into Wellfleet Harbor, and into the trap that is the Herring River.
