A rescue group helped save 19 bottlenose dolphins who became stranded Tuesday on beaches in Brewster and Wellfleet, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The bottlenoses — a much larger species of dolphin that tends to roam farther offshore — have been returned to the water, said Brian Sharp, the group’s director of marine mammal rescue.
The rescue came a day after more than 30 bottlenose dolphins washed up on Cape Cod, with half a dozen dying even as the tide carried them back out to sea.
It is “extremely likely” that the two strandings involved the same dolphins, said IFAW spokesperson Stacey Hedman, who said it can be difficult for stranded dolphins to return to open waters, especially off Cape Cod, because of fluctuating tides.
“These animals are in decent condition,” Sharp said.
Dolphins that are returned to the water after being stranded do not necessarily survive, and rescuers are trying to “coax them out of Wellfleet Bay” ahead of a 6 p.m. low tide, Sharp said.
The stranding of bottlenose dolphins on Monday was the largest in Massachusetts history, according to the IFAW, breaking a record of 11 bottlenose strandings in 2024 during a summer surge in which 175 dolphins were rescued in three months.
Sharp said that IFAW staff and volunteers responded around 5 a.m. on Tuesday to a report of four stranded bottlenose dolphins in Herring River Gut in Wellfleet, but quickly discovered other stranded dolphins in three spots along nine miles of coastline.
Two of the dolphins have been fitted with satellite tags that will allow officials to monitor their movements and track whether the two stranded groups reunite, Sharp said.
Bryan Hecht can be reached at bryan.hecht@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @bhechtjournalism.