What to do if you come across a stranded marine animal

Tonya Wimmer, executive director of MARS, discusses what people should do if they find a stranded marine animal on a Maritime beach.

With the high heat across the Maritimes, many people are hitting the beaches, but in recent weeks that’s also come with several reports of marine animals that have become stranded.

On Thursday, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) alongside the Marine Animal Response Society (MARS) helped free a pilot whale that had become stuck in a bank on the Sydney River.

“It found itself way back in the Sydney River and had been there for a day or so and Fisheries and Oceans tried to encourage it to go back up the river but that didn’t work so (Thursday) we were en route aiming to get there and work with DFO, they were able to get their hands on it and get it into what’s called a whale rescue pontoon and then we worked together to take it as far out as we could and release it,” said MARS executive director Tonya Wimmer in an interview with CTV’s Jesse Thomas.

The rescue was not the first that week either, as a group of dolphins had also become stuck near Canning, N.S., on Sunday.

“That one was particularly challenging because it was a group of, in the end it was 13 Atlantic white-sided dolphins, that found themselves way up on the rivers in the back of the Minas Basin. Anyone who’s in the area knows about those big tides in the Bay of Fundy and especially in this area it’s an area filled with thick, seepy mud and a really deep incline down to where these dolphins were,” said Wimmer, adding that animal rescues are fairly common during the summer months.

“The other thing is we have more people out on water, on beaches and they also have access to things like cameras on their phones and things like social media so word gets out pretty quick,” she said.

While many people may feel the urge to go help if they see a stranded marine animal, Wimmer says people shouldn’t intervene as it can be dangerous. Instead she recommends calling MARS.

“The big thing is really that people do make that phone call because the reality of what we’re dealing with are animals that are in unpredictable situations and sometimes they’re also in very dangerous situations, so we just don’t want people to put themselves in harm’s way or do things that may harm the animal.”

MARS operates a toll-free hotline to report any stranded animals at 1-866-567-6277.

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