Strandings of lone individuals usually involve an animal which is sick or injured. Mass strandings, involving from several to several hundred individuals, appear to be far more complex and may result from fear reactions, from extremely bad weather conditions, from herd-wide disease conditions, or from failure of the echolocation system due to physiological problems or environmental conditions which combine to reduce its effectiveness, to mention only a few.
Whatever their causes, however, cetacean strandings usually attract crowds and elicit much public interest and sympathy. There are frequently attempts to save the lives of the animals involved.
Individually stranded cetaceans rarely survive, even if they are found soon after stranding and transported to adequate holding facilities. This does not mean that every attempt should not be made to save them.
In mass strandings, some individuals may be entirely healthy, and if they are found soon enough after stranding, properly protected and transported, and correctly cared for in the initial few days after collection, they may survive in captivity. Attempts to rescue all the animals in a mass stranding by towing them out to sea have almost always been frustrating because the animals usually swim repeatedly back onto the beach.
If you discover a stranding and before you become involved in an attempt to save a live stranded animal or to collect data from a dead one, you should be aware of the following:
Marine mammals are currently protected by law. Under provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, it is unlawful for persons without a permit to handle, harass, or possess any marine mammal. It is within the authority of State officials and employees of the National Marine Fisheries Service to arrange for the care of live animals through certified institutions, such as many of those listed in Appendix E. (Even if the animals were not protected by law, any impulse to take them to backyard swimming pools, for instance, should be tempered by the knowledge that their chances of survival are far greater in an institution with the facilities and expertise to properly care for them.) The best general rule is to notify the nearest State or National Marine Fisheries Service office. If you prefer, however, you may contact one of the institutions listed in the appendix and ask them to handle the situation. Some will already have permits to investigate strandings. Most will be anxious to help.
Although you cannot remove the animal from the beach without a permit, you can help keep it alive until it can be removed. Here are a few hints. While waiting for help to arrive, endeavor to keep the animal as comfortable as possible. If it is not too large and surf conditions permit, it should be removed to shallow water where it is barely afloat. The buoyancy of the water will reduce the stress to the animal and will help to keep it cool and prevent overheating—a real danger to stranded cetaceans.
Whether or not the animal can be floated, care should be taken to protect it from sunburn, drying out, and overheating. If it is afloat, exposed parts should be frequently splashed down. If it is high and dry, it should be covered with damp cloth, particularly on the dorsal fin, flippers, and flukes, and the body and the terrain should be frequently watered to prevent the animal from overheating in the areas in contact with the sand or rock.
In any case, be careful to leave the blowhole free so that the animal can breathe. Note also that the eyes are particularly sensitive and susceptible to injury; they should be covered with a wet cloth and treated with special care.
With luck, this careful handling will be rewarded with the animal's being picked up and transported to an aquarium, where it can receive proper attention. But even if the animal cannot be saved, collection and examination of the carcass can provide valuable information to scientists working on the biology of cetaceans, or on such problems as their disease conditions and the effects of environmental pollutants on them. Dead stranded cetaceans even in advanced stages of decomposition are also an important source of materials for museum study and display. Therefore, every attempt should be made to get the carcass into the best hands. Dead cetaceans, like the live ones, are protected by law and may not be removed without a permit. The procedure for obtaining permission to collect them is the same as that outlined for live strandings. The majority of the institutions along the western North Atlantic coast will respond to calls about live or dead strandings. Even if you are unable to contact an appropriate official, you can still collect some valuable information by identifying the specimen, using the following key, and by collecting measurements (see [Appendix D]).