YARMOUTH – Have you ever tried to carry a dolphin, even for very short distances?
Not Easy.
Well, thanks to the students at Sturgis Charter Public School the task is about to get easier.
The carrier, designed to transport stranded dolphins to safety, can hold up to 600 pounds and can be carried quickly through beach sand by one or two people.
It was unveiled Saturday at Gray’s Beach in Yarmouth.
The project was funded through a competitive Lemelson-MIT grant of $10,000 and developed in partnership with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientists.
“The Sturgis students have shown great persistence, diligence and innovation in developing this cart,” said Michael Moore, Director of WHOI’s Marine Mammal Center.
“My hope is that it will enable extraction of stranded dolphins from remote areas with relatively few people required.”
Students and scientists demonstrated the use of the Sturgis Dolphin Rescue Carrier yesterday at Gray’s Beach on Yarmouthport.
The carrier is expected to increase the odds of saving beached dolphins and other marine mammals, including small whales.
According to IFAW, the Cape is one of only a few places in the world where mass strandings of dolphins occur on a regular basis.
Cape Cod accounts for about a quarter of all live dolphin strandings in the country, with 114 stranded live dolphins reported last year.
“It has been a great experience working with this group of dedicated students from Sturgis Charter Public School,” said Paul Fucile, Senior Engineer in the Department of Physical Oceanography at WHOI.
“The young engineers met the challenge wonderfully and put a tremendous effort into realizing their invention, which will certainly help save the lives of stranded dolphins.”
By DAVID BEATTY, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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