Stranded Dolphin Rescued From The Creeks

A stranded common dolphin was rescued Tuesday evening from the shallow waters in The Creeks by members of the Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket's (MMAN) stranding team.

The dolphin was evaluated by MMAN's veterinarian Stephen St. Pierre, but there was nothing obviously wrong with it, according to stranding team coordinator Kim Schulam. The dolphin was then transported by truck to an undisclosed location on the south shore and was released into open water.

"Unfortunately, it was dark so we couldn't follow it for too long," Schulam told the Current. "We will be back in the morning in the hopes it doesn't re-strand."

The dolphin was reported just before 6 p.m. at the same location of The Creeks where two dolphins stranded last August.

"Everything went well in spite of the location where it stranded," Schulam said. "It's an awful place with that mud. Thank goodness we were able to do it. Most of the time when a dolphin strands, there's something wrong with it. But since this was in such shallow water at low tide, it could have got in there and got confused."

Schulam stated she was "cautiously optimistic" the dolphin would survive and not re-strand. Eight MMAN stranding team members responded to The Creeks to assist with the rescue.

Tuesday's rescue follows a record-breaking year for marine mammal strandings in southeastern Massachusetts.

All photos below by David Creed: