ICHINOMIYA, Chiba -- Thirty-two dolphins washed up along the coast in Chiba Prefecture on Monday morning. Despite hours of efforts by surfers and local residents to return them to the sea, three of the animals died.
A woman who was surfing in Ichinomiya, Chiba Prefecture, contacted police around 6:25 a.m. on Monday, telling them that "dolphins have washed up on the shore" at Tsurigasaki Beach in the town.
According to the town government and other authorities, 32 dolphins, each about 2 meters long, were stranded on the shore from Tsurigasaki Beach to Taito Beach, which is about 500 meters south of Tsurigasaki Beach. About 40 people, including surfers and local residents, worked to rescue the dolphins for about seven hours and returned most of them to the sea, but three died.
