http://www.speakupforblue.com/in-ocean-news/30-stranded-dolphins-are-saved-by-beach-goers-in-brazil
30 Dolphins Saved By Beach Goers in Brazil
Last week 30 dolphins washed up ashore stranded on a beach in Brazil only to be saved by beach goers and tourists. The entire event was filmed by people on the beach and uploaded to You Tube, which now has over 3.2 million views. In other words it has gone viral. The story was also picked up by numerous news agencies all around the world, which isn't surprising because of the way the whole thing went down.
Check out a clip from the You Tube video to see what I mean...
As you can see the dolphins came out of nowhere and stranded in front of more than 30 people. So from the clip you saw one or two people start to drag the dolphins back into the water. It doesn't take long before more people come along and each grab a dolphin.
These people are heroes in my book...especially the guy who took off his shorts, that looked like a bathing suit, to get more comfortable in a SPEEDO. Hey whatever it takes to save those dolphins.
Every dolphin was saved in less than 3 minutes and 45 seconds. That has to be a record!
Dolphins and other Cetaceans are known to strand themselves every once and a while, but scientists still don't understand why. Some say it's because the animals are already sick or old so they wash ashore before they die. Others say that they are stressed due to underwater noise and quickly rise out of the water getting the "bends", which has to do with rising to the surface under varying pressure without equalizing. Others say it is because they are sick as they have accumulated metals, such as mercury in their body and die from metal poisoning.
Regardless of the reason, there is nothing worse than seeing a pod of marine mammals wash ashore stranded to die if they are not rescued by people.
Organizations Recruit Volunteers to Rescue Stranded Whales and Dolphins
That is why the people in the video are heroes! There are also a number of organizations around the world that dedicate part of their lives to monitoring the coast for stranded mammals. For instance the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) is an organization that has set up a network of volunteers to monitor the coasts of the U.K. for stranded marine mammals AND they are trained to rescue then when necessary. I interviewed Stephen Marsh, a volunteer coordinator for the organization to find out how people can get trained in case anyone is interested in volunteering for them or for a local organization.
This brings me to the question of the day:
Have you ever, or ever wanted, to work with a marine mammal rescue organization?
If you have, let us know which organization you worked with or if you know of any local organizations that rescue marine mammals and need volunteers. I will add a resource page listing these organizations and their contact information to share with the Speak Up for Blue community. You can list the links in the comments below or send them to me through our contact page.
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Please watch: "Manatee: Are they still at risk?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIs3oXJRUtk
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