Police cars pulled into the parking lot, and two women in sheriff’s office uniforms conferred with Judy while Elodie followed Tito to the truck. There was no time to talk. Tito ushered her to the rear of the trailer. It was open in the back with a metal walkway that extended to the pavement. She was shocked to see dolphins lying on the floor, each wrapped in some sort of tarp or blanket. Another woman in a blue T-shirt tended to them. Tito disappeared inside.

More police arrived, conferring with Judy. A van pulled in, and half a dozen women jumped out all dressed in orange all-weather uniforms with long sleeves and long pants, water boots and gloves. A flatbed on wheels appeared, and the women moved it close to the trailer.

The crowd of onlookers had tripled, and there was a sense of urgency in the air. People spoke in hushed tones, a lot of them snapping photos of the dolphins. Elodie wondered how long the dolphins had been out of the water, and how long they could survive like this.

Tito emerged from the trailer dressed in brown waterproof coveralls and boots, with a blue IFAW baseball cap over his thick head of hair. The women in the orange uniforms surrounded him, and they huddled together intently. She thought again in that moment how very attractive he was—a man’s man. So unlike the suits she met all the time in the city.

Things moved quickly. The rescuers carried the dolphins out one by one in red tarps and then placed them on the flatbed on wheels. She realized the bed was a mobile stretcher, and Tito pulled it from the front with the six women surrounding the dolphin along both sides and the back. The procession headed swiftly but carefully down the nearest pathway to the beach. The crowd followed, rushing through the nearest alternative path to the shore, giving the procession a respectful wide berth.

The beach was particularly rocky that day and she was thankful that she had sneakers on. The beachgoers in flip-flops did not fare as well, slowed down by the need to step over stones and rocks and shells. Some gravel made its way into her sneakers but she didn’t miss a step, so intent was she on not missing a moment of the dolphins’ journey.

The police had cleared the perimeter, and some beachgoers were still grumbling about uprooting their umbrellas and chairs and coolers. There was confusion about what was going on, but as soon as the rescue teams were in full view, the sunbathers backed off.