Two Stranded Dolphins Rescued From Wareham Shoreline

Finding anyone at the beach over the last few freezing SouthCoast days would be quite surprising. Even more so would be finding dolphins swimming the local waters in December.

Yet that is exactly where two common dolphins found themselves stranded earlier this week.

The Wareham Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) was called to the scene of two dolphins near Beaver Creek on Monday morning, a serious surprise for those that found them.

According to the WDNR Facebook page, they were called around 10:45 A.M. to respond to the report of two stranded common dolphins off of the Weweantic River.

How the Dolphins Were Found

Both dolphins were found alive and active, but were out of the water due to low tide. That prompted the WDNR to call in the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) out of Yarmouth Port, MA.

Their Marine Mammal Stranding Response Team immediately responded to the area and rescued both dolphins.

READ MORE: Fairhaven Officer Crawls Under Porch to Save Injured Kitten

The pair were given a quick exam before being transported for a full evaluation.

The waters weren't too cold for them to survive, but things must have been very tough for a while. One of the dolphins weighed in at just 90 lbs, while the other was in the 150 lbs range. Common dolphins typically weigh between 180-330 lbs.

Why Warm Water May Be To Blame

These beautiful mammals are also typically seen as tropical swimmers, enjoying areas where nutrient-rich waters meet warm surface waters. So how did a pair of them end up in Wareham in December?

Believe it or not, water temperatures across the area have been on the warmer side this season. According to World Weather, water temps only started dipping below 50 degrees in late November.

READ MORE: Massachusetts Coldest and Warmest Cities in the State

Common dolphins prefer water anywhere from 50 degrees - 82 degrees, so this pair could have been slowly returning south searching for food when they wound up stranded.

Though we may never know what left them on the SouthCoast this long, one thing is for sure — they probably wouldn't have survived without the call for help from locals or the service of IFAW's amazing volunteers.