This past week, 54 dolphins were found stranded across Cape Cod, bringing IFAW’s total this year to 342, more than 5 times the annual average

Cape Cod has long been a hotspot for marine mammal strandings, but this past week was one for the record books, according to International Fund for Animal Welfare.

IFAW’s marine mammal rescue team faced a staggering series of challenges, responding to an unprecedented number of calls. IFAW’s marine mammal rescue team has now responded to 342 live dolphins thus far in 2024, more than five times their annual average of 67. 

Here’s what this past week looked like: 

• 54 dolphins stranded in total across multiple beaches and waterways. 
• 46 stranded live; 41 of these were released back to deeper waters to rejoin the ocean. 
• On Wednesday, the team marked its 500th response of the year—a testament to the extraordinary demands of 2024. 
• In total, 13 animals unfortunately died (six before IFAW arrived, seven after). 

Following their response to the largest mass dolphin stranding the US has ever seen, this November, IFAW’s rescue team was once again called to action on Cape Cod. It all began on Saturday, November 9th, with the first call to IFAW’s 24/7 stranding hotline around 6:30 a.m. 

By noon that day, they had responded to an estimated 19 common dolphins stranded across eight locations in five different towns on Cape Cod. 

Locations included Ellis Landing in Brewster, First Encounter Beach in Eastham, Crowes Pasture in Dennis, the Herring River Gut in Wellfleet, Mayo Beach in Wellfleet, Jeremy Point in Wellfleet, Skaket Beach in Orleans, and Sea Street Beach in Dennis. 

A combination of rough winds, cold weather, and a challenging surf made for a complex rescue operation—but the team successfully stabilised and transported 10 dolphins to Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown for release, giving them the greatest chance of survival. At this point, six dolphins had died. 

Throughout the week, the calls kept coming. Dolphins stranded on beaches, in marshes, and in narrow tidal zones. Each location presented unique hurdles, from navigating deep mud to racing against the tide. The team’s efforts spanned long days and nights, sometimes requiring innovative solutions like herding dolphins with kayaks or applying satellite tags to monitor their post-rescue movements. 

In total, 43 dolphins stranded, with 34 alive. Of those, they were able to release 29 throughout the week, and about 11 refloated with some assistance. 

The same week, IFAW also responded to a live minke whale stranded in the surf. This whale died of natural causes, and the team performed a necropsy the next day. 

With this flurry of activity, the marine mammal rescue team reached the milestone of responding to 500 animals—dolphins, whales, and seals—total in 2024. 

IFAW issued a statement on what causes the dolphins to strand.

“Because of Cape Cod’s unique coastline—consisting of sloped sandbars, shallow waters, drastic fluctuations in the tide, and hook-like shape—along with its prime location in dolphin feeding grounds, it is a global hotspot for dolphin strandings. Dolphins in this area often find themselves disoriented after swimming too close to shore at high tide, and they get stuck when the tide goes back out. 

“Sometimes, dolphins become stranded when they are ill or injured, but there are many other variables that impact healthy dolphins, too—wind speed and direction, significant storms, tides and other oceanographic conditions, and prey and predator distribution. Some human-caused issues can also result in strandings—including ocean noise pollution, entanglements, and vessel strikes. 

“To add to the challenge, many of these variables are interdependent—they influence one another. It is likely that mass strandings (and individual strandings) happen when a combination of these factors come together. 

“We believe these dolphins may all have been part of the same pod, but it’s unclear exactly why this group in particular became stranded. Though Cape Cod has always seen more live dolphin strandings than anywhere else in the world, the numbers this year have reached historic highs.”