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<p><i>From BDMLR Orkney on Facebook (asking for donations):</i><br>
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.<br>
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. <br>
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. <br>
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.<br>
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.<br>
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. <br>
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.<br>
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
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:reports@strandings.org">reports@strandings.org</a> or call 07979 245893.<br>
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