Dolphin Rescue Center

animal welfaremarine mammal rescueDolphin Rescue Center

Rescue center boosts survival for stranded dolphins on Cape Cod

First-of-its kind rehabilitation facility fills a critical unmet need for dolphins and porpoises.

Problem

Cape Cod sees more instances of live mass strandings of dolphins than anywhere else in the world. IFAW’s marine rescue experts, renowned for their experience, research, and innovation over the past 25 years, understand that some animals require specialised diagnostics, treatment, and often additional recovery time that can only be provided at a dedicated facility.

Solution

IFAW’s new Dolphin Rescue Center on Cape Cod is a first-of-its-kind rehabilitation facility for dolphins and porpoises, designed to fill a critical unmet need.

This innovative pilot project seeks to improve post-release survival for stranded small cetaceans (dolphins and porpoises) suffering from acute conditions by providing short-term intensive care.

Dolphins and porpoises are transported to the facility, supported and monitored continuously, and reassessed and released when their stranding-related conditions have sufficiently improved.

Impact

In the last five years, IFAW staff have responded to more than 400 live stranded dolphins, whales, and porpoises. We’ve changed what’s possible when it comes to single-stranded dolphin survivability in the past, and IFAW is here to do it again.

This project will evaluate the feasibility and utility of short-term stranded cetacean rehabilitation and inform treatment protocols and disposition decisions for stranded dolphins across the globe.

The Dolphin Rescue Center will be ready to provide care within 15 minutes of a stranding event. Stranded animals will be accommodated for up to four days in the facility. We will initially handle one patient at a time, eventually expanding to more, with a current plan to take in up to 12 patients per year.

The Dolphin Rescue Center is made possible by a generous contribution from the Dutch Postcode Lottery, the Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital, and an award to IFAW from the prestigious Prescott Grant program, among several donors.