Current:Home > NewsCape Cod strands more dolphins than anywhere else. Now they’re getting their own hospital-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Cape Cod strands more dolphins than anywhere else. Now they’re getting their own hospital
View Date:2024-12-23 18:36:22
When members of the marine mammal team from the International Fund for Animal Welfare rush to a Cape Cod beach to help a stranded dolphin or porpoise, they have no choice but to treat the endangered animal on site and then immediately release it.
That is about to change.
The organization, which protects animals worldwide, is opening a first-of-its-kind short-term dolphin hospital on Cape Cod this month that it hopes will not only improve survivability rates, but also enhance the research it has developed over 25 years.
Stranded marine mammals are stressed, in shock and dehydrated, said Brian Sharp, director of the rescue team. Simply caring for them at the scene is often not enough. They need additional diagnostics, treatment and recovery time.
“With this ICU for dolphins, we’ll be able to get them treatment that’s needed, then be able to release them quickly,” he said.
While there are marine mammal rehabilitation centers that can take care of animals for months or even years, the goal of this facility is to release them back into the ocean within four days, he said.
“This is the first time that this has been attempted before,” Sharp said.
There are more live marine mammal strandings on Cape Cod than anywhere else in the world, Sharp said. The welfare fund has responded to more than 400 live stranded dolphins, whales and porpoises in the region in the past five years alone, the organization said in a news release.
Cape Cod is a good habitat for dolphins, but a risky one. Its geography — it is basically a hook-shaped spit of sand jutting into the ocean — can make dolphin navigation difficult, and 12-foot tides can quickly expose a mile of beach.
The 4,200-square-foot (390-square-meter) Dolphin Rescue Center is in a renovated retail space in downtown Orleans.
It includes an 1,800-square-foot (167-square-meter) rehabilitation area with two treatment pools 15 feet (4.3 meters) across and a veterinary laboratory. The public will not be permitted to have direct contact with the animals being a cared for, but there is also an education center where visitors will be able to watch the recovering animals on a monitor.
Staffed by four full-time workers, it is equipped to provide round-the-clock care. It will start by treating one animal at a time, but the goal is to eventually treat multiple animals simultaneously.
The privately funded center has been federally inspected and expects to open by the end of the month, Sharp said.
“We want to take what we learn here and share it nationally, internationally,” he said.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Jennifer Lopez Gets Loud in Her First Onstage Appearance Amid Ben Affleck Divorce
- Minnesota Has Passed a Landmark Clean Energy Law. Which State Is Next?
- These 8 habits could add up to 24 years to your life, study finds
- Video shows bear stuck inside car in Lake Tahoe
- Gold is suddenly not so glittery after Trump’s White House victory
- Lawmakers Urge Biden Administration to Permanently Ban Rail Shipments of Liquefied Natural Gas
- Selena Gomez's Sister Proves She's Taylor Swift's Biggest Fan With Speak Now-Inspired Hair Transformation
- California Enters ‘Uncharted Territory’ After Cutting Payments to Rooftop Solar Owners by 75 Percent
- Skai Jackson announces pregnancy with first child: 'My heart is so full!'
- UN Water Conference Highlights a Stubborn Shortage of Global Action
Ranking
- Brian Austin Green Shares Message to Sharna Burgess Amid Ex Megan Fox's Baby News
- Activists Make Final Appeal to Biden to Block Arctic Oil Project
- Body cam video shows police in Ohio release K-9 dog onto Black man as he appeared to be surrendering
- As Russia bombs Ukraine ports and threatens ships, U.S. says Putin using food as a weapon against the world
- Question of a lifetime: Families prepare to confront 9/11 masterminds
- Glee's Kevin McHale Recalls His & Naya Rivera's Shock After Cory Monteith's Tragic Death
- Public Lands in the US Have Long Been Disposed to Fossil Fuel Companies. Now, the Lands Are Being Offered to Solar Companies
- These 8 habits could add up to 24 years to your life, study finds
Recommendation
-
Diddy's ex-bodyguard sues rape accuser for defamation over claims of 2001 assault
-
Coast Guard searching for Carnival cruise ship passenger who went overboard
-
Micellar Water You’ll Dump Makeup Remover Wipes For From Bioderma, Garnier & More
-
Pittsburgh Selects Sustainable Startups Among a New Crop of Innovative Businesses
-
Oklahoma school district adding anti-harassment policies after nonbinary teen’s death
-
Earth Could Warm 3 Degrees if Nations Keep Building Coal Plants, New Research Warns
-
Vanderpump Rules' Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval Spotted Filming Season 11 Together After Scandal
-
Biden administration unveils new U.S. Cyber Trust Mark consumer label for smart home devices