Brazilian beachgoers save stranded dolphin pod
March 23, 2012
A few weeks ago, a group of about 30 dolphins swam a little too close to the shore and got stranded in the surf on a Brazilian beach. Dolphins cannot survive on land for too long, and even if they get back in the water quickly, they may not be able to fully recover, according to CNN. Thankfully, the beachgoers sensed the danger these dolphins were in and jumped to the rescue. They dragged the dolphins back into the water by their tails and everyone cheered as the pod swam away.
One onlooker managed to catch the entire incident on camera, and since the video was posted on YouTube on March 5, it has been watched nearly 3.3 million times. Those who want to find out more about the event can make calls to Brazil with international phone cards and find out if their friends were lucky enough to be at Arraial do Cabo beach that fateful day.
"There is no single answer for marine mammal strandings, just as there is no single answer for what causes car crashes or traffic jams," Dr. Darlene R. Ketten, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, told The Huffington Post. "The pod may have been feeding very close to shore and then were caught in a strong current or wave area and pushed onto shore by the water."