[Stronsaylimpet] Dolphin rescue

[Limpet editor]

/From BDMLR Orkney on Facebook (asking for donations):/
At around 10:00 on Thursday 5th October British Divers Marine Life 
Rescue were alerted to a dolphin that was stranded in The Ouse in 
Orkney. Medics were quickly on scene and were able to locate the dolphin 
along with a second unreported animal. The team quickly identified that 
these were both female common dolphin with one measuring 2.1m and the 
second 1.6m in length. As further medics arrived on scene the team 
carried out full assessments of both animals alongside a vet from Flett 
and Carmicheal and discovered the animals both appeared to be in great 
body condition and the decision was made that they were both good 
candidates for refloat.
Due to the location both dolphins were recovered from The Ouse using a 
tractor from a local farm and were loaded onto a flatbed trailer which 
was kindly made available by a local resident. In convoy with our 
Coastguard colleagues, the short journey was made to the nearby Finstown 
slip.
Both animals responded well once they were returned to the water and 
medics continued to support the animals until their muscle tone had 
returned and they began heading out into deeper water. Although both 
appearing to swim strongly the dolphins did not move away from the 
immediate are and over the course of the next hour made their way back 
towards The Ouse once more.
Unfortunately, both animals swam straight under the narrow bridge back 
into The Ouse about an hour and a half after they had been refloated. As 
weather deteriorated medics continued to observe the animals free 
swimming in The Ouse hoping they may have made their way back out into 
deeper water. Whilst monitoring the dolphins medics noticed that the 
larger animal appeared to be leaning quite heavily to one side and was 
struggling to swim in a straight line. It was also noticed that the 
small animal was repeatedly pushing the larger dolphin to try and keep 
her swimming straight. As we headed towards low tide the larger of the 
two dolphins restranded. At this point the decision was made by the team 
and with the local vet that the best option for this animal was for it 
to be euthanised.
As darkness had now fallen the team began conducting systematic sweeps 
of the shoreline in search of the second animal which was now at high 
risk of restranding due to the low tide. Within an hour of the larger 
animal stranding the smaller animal was discovered laying upright on the 
mud. The medic team alongside coastguard officers (acting as safety 
cover) recovered the dolphin to a waiting trailer where a new refloat 
site was chosen. The dolphin was transported to nearby Tingwall where a 
second refloat attempt was made. Medics supported the dolphin in the 
water for around half an hour before she was ready to be released. Once 
released she gave some powerful kicks and began heading into deeper 
water. After a short amount of time she settled back in to her free 
swimming life and with a couple of half breaches headed off into the 
night. The team was stood down at 00:30 after what turned into a 14hour 
long rescue.
Medics marked this dolphin with orange marks on either side of her 
dorsal fin, if anyone in the Orkney area happens to come across or 
photograph her in the coming days then please do get in touch with the 
local team via facebook as we would love to hear from you. The larger 
dolphins remains will be transported to the Scottish Marine Animal 
Strandings Scheme (SMASS) for further investigations.
This rescue involved a huge amount of work by so many people from the 
head office team to the out of hours coordinators and of course our 
brilliant local medic team! A total of 12 medics attending throughout 
the day, what a superb team effort! As ever we would like to thank all 
the Orkney residents who offered their support whether it be with 
tractors and trailers or with offers of coffee and cake! We couldn’t do 
the work we do without HM Coastguard - Orkney & Shetland who provided us 
with the usual amazing support, keeping us safe in less than ideal 
conditions and finally to Flett & Carmichael Vets for assisting with 
assessment as well as euthanising one of the dolphins.
If you see a live cetacean stranded on the shore, please call the BDMLR 
hotline on 01825 765 546, option 1. This number is manned 24 hours a 
day, 365 days a year. Alternatively, if you find a dead stranded marine 
animal, please report this to SMASS via email at reports at strandings.org 
or call 07979 245893.
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