Rescuers continued efforts as pilot whales re-stranded, this time in Wellfleet

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated at 12:39 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30 to note that four of the five pilot whales refloated Tuesday night have re-beached themselves and rescuers are working to support them with hopes of getting them back into the bay.

EASTHAM — Four of five long-finned pilot whales rescued Tuesday from the beach just north of Sunken Meadow on the Cape Cod Bay side of Eastham ended up back on shore overnight, this time near the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

Rescuers from the International Fund for Animal Welfare's Yarmouth-based Marine Mammal Rescue & Research team on Wednesday morning renewed efforts to get the animals back into the bay. Unfortunately, their injuries were too extensive and they had to be euthanized. A fifth whale that had swum out into the bay after it was refloated Tuesday night also apparently turned back in the night and likely also became stranded again — the rescuers were seeking the animal in the area as of Wednesday afternoon, according to IFAW staff members.

Heather Pilchard was looking for turtles Monday but noticed the pilot whales

The pilot whales were initially discovered on the Eastham beach on Monday evening by Heather Pilchard, a volunteer who was out patrolling the strand in search of cold-stunned sea turtles.

"I was doing my sea turtle rescue patrol and I got assigned to Sunken Meadow. I always walk way to the end. It wasn't until I got really far to the end that I noticed these large marine animals that were on the beach. I knew from how far away they were that they were big," Pilchard said.

Earlier in the day, a common dolphin had been rescued alive from a nearby marsh, Pilchard said, and she thought perhaps more had become stranded — the dolphin did not end up surviving. But when she got closer she knew they were not common dolphins, and guessed them to be pilot whales.

She first encountered three of the animals together in a group, she said. She called the IFAW rescue team to report the strandings and sent a photo, confirming they were pilot whales. Pilchard said her phone died in the process of describing the location, and she enlisted the help of someone walking their dog to communicate with the rescue team.

An advance team from IFAW did go out briefly Monday to examine the whales and two were satellite tagged.

Pilchard said when she came upon the whales, they were "breathing really heavy."

"It was so traumatic," she said. "Your instinct is to run up, but that just stresses them out, so I stayed away."

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A full rescue team from IFAW was sent out on Tuesday morning

A full rescue team was dispatched to the beach on Tuesday morning. In all, six pilot whales were stranded.

"Unfortunately, the youngest animal died," said Brian Sharp, director of marine mammal rescue and research for IFAW, providing a report from the beach Tuesday afternoon.

The scientists worked for hours Tuesday to keep the remaining five animals alive while waiting for the tide to rise so that the animals could be refloated.

"Some of these animals are very large," said Sharp, describing the individuals. "The largest animal we estimate is almost 4,000 pounds, so almost two tons."

While waiting for the high tide, the team spent the afternoon performing health assessments on all of the animals, providing supportive care and giving intravenous fluids "to help combat the effects of stress and shock from the stranding," Sharp said.

How were the pilot whales floated? With help from the tide, and an inflatable pontoon

Over the course of the afternoon, the rescuers worked to place a flattened pontoon under one of the surviving whales, which was inflated once in place. A system of straps was used to help tote the other whales into the water once the tide came in.

"Right now we just need the tide to come in and help us refloat because these animals are so large," Sharp said as the operation was under way on Tuesday, noting the team was doing everything it could "to give these animals the best shot and the best outcome."

The high tide arrived around 3:30, and by 4 the fives whales were reported to be once again afloat. But shortly afterwards, four of the whales had turned back to shore, only to re-beach themselves in Wellfleet.

In Chatham:Five pilot whales stranded on sandbar in Chatham Harbor

Pilot whales: All for one and one for all

When it comes to their social lives, pilot whales are rather like the musketeers: All for one and one for all. Pilot whales are actually large dolphins, according to Whale and Dolphin Conservation, an international charity dedicated to the protection of whales and dolphins.

"They are the second-largest member of the oceanic dolphin family (second only to orcas in size)," the organization notes on its website. "Pilot whales are extraordinarily social; their strong bonds with one another motivate them to stick together through thick and thin, even when that means putting themselves at risk."

It's not the first time a group of pilot whales have stranded on Cape Cod this year. In June, the rescue team responded to multiple calls about the whales on its stranding hotline, leading to a weekend-long rescue mission to care for and refloat the animals as quickly as possible. Five whales were located across from Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge on a sandbar in Chatham Harbor. Unfortunately, two of the whales did not survive the ordeal.

The rescue team is typically alerted to strandings via their hotline at 508-743-9548 or online at https://www.ifaw.org/campaigns/strandings

Report:North Atlantic right whales continuing to decline

The IFAW Marine Mammal Rescue & Research program is a world-recognized leader in stranding response. No location in the world sees more frequent mass strandings of dolphins than Cape Cod, according to the agency.

"These events are not only a unique opportunity to rescue and provide cutting-edge veterinary care to these individual animals, but also drive constant innovation and groundbreaking research that is shared with collaborators around the world," the agency says on the team website

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