According to the Dennis Police Department, a mother dolphin that was stranded on Skaket Beach with her baby was released into the waters of West Dennis Beach in Massachusetts on Saturday.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare say that the female dolphin, weighing about 500 lbs., knew that her baby was in distress when the two were stranded. The mother would not leave her baby's side, ultimately at her own peril. She was caught in shallow water and as the tide went out, she could not get herself back to deeper water, eventually being left high and dry.
The IFAW loaded the mother and her baby into the trailer for release, but the baby did not survive.
There was concern that the mother would not head out to sea without her baby; so the baby was released with the mother so she would know it passed.
The release was a slow process, as the dolphin was tagged and she ultimately headed back to sea.
