A tourist boat off the Welsh coast has rescued a dolphin calf which had become separated from its mother. The team from Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips in New Quay in Ceredigion, saw a pair of common dolphins near the shore of Cardigan Bay. Thanks to members of the public and a local volunteer trained by British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), they were able to save the dolphin calf.
Cardigan Bay is a special area of conservation for bottlenose dolphins. But sightings of common dolphins are rare says the company which operates boat trips in the area. A video it shared on its Facebook page showed the dolphin calf swimming in the shallow waters at 11:30 on Saturday morning.
The animal appeared “lethargic,” they said in the post, adding that it was swimming in shallow waters. Another video showed volunteers jumping into the water, hoping to get the calf to swim out into deeper waters. They wrapped it up in a blanket and took it onto one of the company boats.
Johs Pedley from New Quay said that his former colleagues at SeaMôr Dolphin Watching Boat Trips, a different tourist boat firm, had informed him about the dolphins in the bay. He watched the animals for around an hour from the beach before seeing the mother appearing to abandon the calf.
“This coincided with a kayaker approaching the animals, perhaps coincidence, but after this, the mother was not seen again,” he said. “The tide was still due to be going out for about another two hours and the lone calf started showing some signs of distress. It was spending most of its time ‘logging’ on the surface of the water and swimming round in circles.”
He phoned BDMLR, informing them of a possibly beached dolphin in the coming hours. “They asked me to keep tabs on it and they would get back to me,” he said.
After the team arrived, they attempted to shepherd it out into deeper waters but it was pushed back in by the waves.
“A plan was hatched to gain access to a boat crewed by Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips staff and to hoist the dolphin into the boat and drive it further out to sea,” Pedley said.
It was then re-released into deeper waters after marine medics checked over it.
Stay tuned to EyeOnLondon for the latest news and expert opinions.
Follow us on:
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest videos and updates!
We value your thoughts! Share your feedback and help us make EyeOnLondon even better!
