When a lone common dolphin was reported circling in a shallow inlet at Place, near Portscatho in Cornwall on the morning of Friday, 16 February, British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) volunteers were able to react quickly.
Two Marine Mammal Medics were sent monitor the situation, and after some 90 minutes decided that the risk of the dolphin stranding was increasing significantly as the tide went out in the muddy inlet, which dries almost completely at low tide.
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So a larger response team was already standing by when the animal did strand in the mud, falling onto its side and submerging its blowhole. They were able to get it upright quickly, and brought it ashore for a health check.
No obvious injuries were found to what was established to be a 2m female, and two vets who arrived confirmed that she was in moderate nutritional condition and fit to be refloated – although she would need to be transferred to a location from which she could get back safely out to sea.
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A local resident offered his boat tender to take the dolphin out to deeper water. It was slid over the mud to near the mouth of the inlet, and the dolphin was carried across in a tarpaulin, transferred to a mesh stretcher and loaded aboard.
Accompanied by four Medics, including a vet, she was taken to the mouth of the Percuil River and set overboard in the stretcher – kicking strongly, she was quickly released and was seen circling in the middle of the channel before disappearing.
The area was being monitored over the weekend for resightings or restrandings, but it was hoped that the dolphin would make a full recovery and continue back out to sea.
British Divers Marine Life Rescue is an international marine animal rescue organisation based in the UK and is a registered charity. It provides a rescue service for marine wildlife, supports rehabilitation centres and develops new methods of rescue, treatment, transport and care.
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