Rescuers Save 16 Dolphins Stranded on Cape Cod Beach

The dolphins got stuck on mud flats during a low tide.

ByAvianne Tan
September 16, 2016, 6:32 PM
Sixteen dolphins were rescued on Sept. 15, 2016, after they were found stranded on the Cape Cod Coast in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
Sixteen dolphins were rescued on Sept. 15, 2016, after they were found stranded on the Cape Cod Coast in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
Courtesy Coletta Slivka

— -- Rescuers helped saved the lives of 16 dolphins that were stranded on a Cape Cod beach in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, yesterday.

The dolphins got stuck on mud flats in shallow water during low tide on Thursday afternoon, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said in a news release.

An IFAW team -- along with help from the public, the Center for Coastal Studies, National Park Service and Chequessett Neck Yacht Club -- responded to the stranding site and helped get the dolphins to safety.

Volunteers moved the dolphins onto stretchers and then onto special carts, IFAW said. Rescuers then pushed the carts to trucks that transported the dolphins to deeper waters at Herring Cover Beach in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

PHOTO: Sixteen dolphins were rescued on Sept. 15, 2016, after they were found stranded on the Cape Cod Coast in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
Sixteen dolphins were rescued on Sept. 15, 2016, after they were found stranded on the Cape Cod Coast in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

"It was a well-choreographed dance with teams at each site and in each trailer caring for the animals," IFAW said. "All animals have small yellow dorsal fin tags with our rescue phone number on them. If they are re-sighted at sea or stranded (dead or alive), we ask folks to call our hotline at 508-743-9548."

A local resident who had been at the beach with her 9-year-old daughter said she was "amazed by the swift rescue."

"These animals were just so stunningly beautiful, so it was sad to see them stranded but amazing to watch everyone get together and help out," Sarah Pechukas Slivka told ABC News today.

Slivka added that her 9-year-old daughter, Coletta, was inspired by the rescue and now dreams of becoming a marine biologist or IFAW rescuer in the future.