Dolphin Strandings on Beaches of Cape Cod Baffle Scientists
February 20, 2012 in Featured, Home by Jillian at Tails
Photo credit: Vincent DeWitt for the Boston Globe
Since January 12, 2012, 178 dolphins have stranded on Cape Cod. Of the 178, 107 have been found dead and scientists and researchers have no idea why the dolphins have stranded or what is killing them.
Researchers and biologists have been working tirelessly to help the surviving dolphins to find their way out and back to the ocean, but it’s been a challenging process of analyzing environmental data like wind, currents and sea surface temperatures as well as guiding the lives ones back to the ocean.
Tissue samples from the live and dead dolphins are being processed to test for disease or any other biological clues as to why the dolphins are stranding and dying.
Theories exist as to why the dolphins are being stranded there–Cape Cod’s hooked shape makes leaving the bay difficult for the dolphins, tides that fall quickly can trap dolphins and the shallow creeks can impede the dolphins’ sense of direction and steer them off course.
There are no solid answers yet, so researchers have to keep studying the stranding dolphins and leading as many live ones back to the ocean as they can. Because scientists know very little about this species of dolphins (which live in deeper waters from the mid-Atlantic coast to Canada) it has been particularly frustrating.
The fact that most of the stranded dolphins have been healthy continues to baffle researchers and until they understand this disturbing phenomena they will have to keep studying and guiding the healthy dolphins back to sea.
