Surfers come to the rescue of 32 stranded dolphins found in Chiba

A group of surfers launched an emergency rescue operation after 32 dolphins were found washed up on a beach in Chiba’s Boso Peninsula on April 3. Surfers, and other volunteers, carried the dolphins back into the sea, but several of them had already died, according to the Ichinomiya city government.

The dolphins, believed to be melon-headed dolphins, were around 2 meters long each. They were discovered in an area stretching 500 meters along the coast at the southern end of Kujukuri Beach. The site hosted the surfing competition at the Tokyo Summer Olympics held in 2021.

About 10 surfers carried out rescue efforts as of the afternoon. “The dolphins seemed very exhausted,” said a man watching the scene on the beach. “Some of them were washed back into the shallows by the waves even though they were carried to areas far from shore.” A woman who joined the task for about five hours said: “It was difficult because the sea was rough, but we were able to put around 20 dolphins back into the sea.”

Melon-headed dolphins live in warmer parts of the ocean with temperatures around 25 degrees Celsius, but they head north at this time of year in search of schools of sardines and other fish, according to Yukio Miyauchi, director of the Choshi Ocean Institute. which holds dolphin-watching tours off the coast of Choshi in Chiba Prefecture.

“I think the dolphins entered areas of cold water and their bodies were temporarily paralyzed,” Miyauchi said. “Then they were washed ashore by strong winds.”