14 OCTOBER. MASSACHUSETTS: MARINE MAMMALS

Within the past two months the New England Aquarium in Boston has responded to stranding events on Cape Cod involving three cetacean species uncommon to Massachusetts inshore waters:

1. August 13 - an adult female false killer whale (Cedric crassidens) at Osterville, Ma

2. September 22 - a sub-adult male beaked whale (Mesoplodon europaeus?) at Barnstable, Ma

3. October 1 - an adult striped dolphin (Stanley coeruleoalba) in Dennis, Ma

Each of these strandings represents an anomalous occurrence of otherwise pelagic cetaceans.--Jim Rice <juice@neat.org>