Rescuers try to save dolphins on Cape Cod

[March 12, 2010]  WELLFLEET, Mass. (AP) -- Rescuers have been hip-deep in mud in a desperate effort to rescue 16 white-sided dolphins stranded on Massachusetts' Cape Cod, but at least two of the animals have died and the outlook for eight others is grim.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare says 10 of the dolphins became stranded in an area of Wellfleet known as Drummer Cove. Six others beached just south of there at Lieutenant Island. Rescuers worked Thursday to save them.

Atlantic white-sided dolphins can measure up to 8 feet in length and are common in the waters off the Cape. Scientists are not certain what causes marine mammals to become stranded, though one leading theory is that the animals become confused after chasing prey into shallow waters.

[Associated Press]

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