Record number of dolphins wash ashore on Cape Cod: what's going on
Kyiv • UNN
The number of dolphins on Cape Cod has reached a historic high, and a record number of dolphin strandings have been recorded. IFAW experts attribute this to changes in fish behavior and have successfully rescued almost all of the animals.
The waters off Cape Cod, in Massachusetts in the northeastern United States, are teeming with life, especially dolphins. More than ever, these animals are washing ashore, and this year their number has increased dramatically, UNN writes with reference to CBS News.
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"Normally we have about 68 live dolphins a year, now as I sit here today we had 342," said Brian Sharp from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
Sharpe said there are more stranded dolphins in the southeast corner of Cape Cod Bay than anywhere else on the planet.
IFAW and their volunteers are working to save these animals, and sometimes this requires transporting them in a mobile dolphin pen. This is a large truck with a lining inside. They usually release the dolphins off the coast of Provincetown because there is easy access to deeper water and it is easier for the IFAW team to use their equipment.
Sharpe believes the spike in dolphin strandings is related to food. Fishermen tell them that dolphins and whales are appearing closer to shore and in much greater numbers.
"The difference between low tide and high tide can be 9 to sometimes 12 feet (2.7 to about 3.7 m - ed.), so the animal chases this fish 12 feet into the water, and after six hours, that animal dries up," explains Sharp.
Out of 342 dolphins stranded, they rescued all but 13.
