Safe assumption time: Everybody loves dolphins. If you don’t love them you are at least aware of their presence and how much the rest of the world is enchanted by their personality and charm. Lisa Frank had a dolphin theme in her rainbow-hued school supplies line and elementary schools around the country have adopted the dolphin as their mascot, but it’s not just for kids: there is even an NFL team-the Miami Dolphins. You can hang out with dolphins for just under $200 at Sea World’s Dolphin Interaction Program: that alone is a testament to the marine mammal’s popularity.

Yesterday we wrote about whales and the efforts of organizations to save them. Today we will talk about dolphins because sadly approximately sixty were stranded across twenty-five miles of Cape Cod coastline over the weekend and into the beginning of this week. In the “massive rescue effort” the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s (IFAW) Marine Mammal Rescue and Research Team, comprised of volunteers, succeeded in rescuing and releasing nineteen of twenty-seven common dolphins including a pregnant mother and a calf.

"No one knows for sure why animals strand, but mass strandings of whales and dolphins have happened on Cape Cod for hundreds of years," said Katie Moore, IFAW's Marine Mammal Rescue and Research Manager, "The topography of the Cape is likely a factor, with its hook-like shape, gently sloping beaches and extensive sand and mud flats. Animals may become disoriented and trapped by the complex inlets. Dolphins are also very social animals and stick together for better or worse.”

On Monday, Moore blogged that a number of dolphins were already dead when volunteers arrived, some couldn’t be physically reached, one had to be euthanized because of its injuries and another died after being released.  The IFAW does not just rescue and release stranded dolphins, they also place satellite tags on the dorsal fins of a select few to monitor their locations. Five dolphins were given tags during this rescue.  In addition, the IFAW takes on the extremely sad task of collecting data from the dolphins that did not survive to decipher why mass strandings occur.

The organization asks that you call their emergency hotline to report stranded marine animals in the portion of the East Coast they cover. The IFAW reports, “Cape Cod is one of the top three stranding hotspots in the world. Mass strandings of multiple marine mammals often occur in this area between January and April. If you see a live or dead stranded marine mammal south of Plymouth through Rhode Island, please report it to the IFAW emergency hotline at 508-743-9548.”