Stranded dolphin euthanized in Danvers despite rescue efforts

A team tried to rescue a stranded dolphin in Danvers this week, only to determine that the animal could not be saved and that the best course of action was to euthanize it. 

A juvenile Atlantic white-sided dolphin was found to have swum up the Waters River in Danvers during high tide on Tuesday morning. But when the tide receded, it was left stranded in shallow water and mud close to the Peabody town line. 

The Seacoast Science Center in Rye, N.H. operates a Marine Mammal Rescue team that responds to reports of live or deceased seals, whales, porpoises, and dolphins in the area. Representatives from NOAA Fisheries called in the team from SSC to see if anything could be done to rescue the stranded dolphin. 

The first challenge for the rescue team was reaching the dolphin in the first place. 

“The field conditions were extremely muddy, which can quickly become very dangerous for responders,” Lauren McDowell, community outreach manager for the Marine Mammal Rescue team told Boston.com. 

Once the team managed to access the dolphin, they discovered it to be in poor health and “extremely thin.” Dolphins are very social creatures, and the fact that this one was found alone was another sign that it was not healthy. 

Atlantic white-sided dolphins are usually found in social groups that generally range from five to 50 animals, but groups with hundreds or thousands have been observed. They live in the North Atlantic Ocean, and researchers think that these animals moved their habitat closer to shore in the ’70s and ’80s. But their range extends from New England all the way to Greenland and Europe. They move seasonally, swimming north and closer to shore in the summer months, according to NOAA. 

The team’s goal was to make the animal “as comfortable as possible.” They tried to move it closer to the edge of the river, covered it in shade, administered fluids, and used ice in an attempt to keep its body moist. 

But the dolphin’s poor health, combined with the fact that there are no long-term rehab facilities for cetaceans in the northeast, led the team to “humanely euthanize the animal to end its suffering,” McDowell said. She referred to NOAA guidelines on marine mammal euthenasia.

Camera crews captured some of the rescue efforts.

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