There was drama on the Tay on Thursday as emergency services and marine experts battled to save a dolphin in distress.
After a police escort through the rush-hour streets of Dundee, the dolphin arrived at the shores of Broughty Ferry shortly before 5pm. Waiting for her there was the local RNLI boat Elizabeth of Glamis, which had received special clearance to assist with the rescue effort.
The Courier was also allowed on board to follow events out at sea.
Mr Norman and Shanwell colleague Harry Spence then worked with the RNLI crew to keep the dolphin calm and watered during the journey back to deep water.
Two of the RNLI crew joined Mr Spence in the water and they worked hard to settle and then free the dolphin.
Delighted at being able to help, Broughty Ferry RNLI coxswain Murray Brown admitted it was the first time he and his crew had ever assisted a dolphin rescue.
“It was an unusual one for us but the boys come and train for every scenario and this was just another scenario,” he said. “I’ve never done anything like that before and it was alien to all of us but that’s when our training kicks in and it went very well.
“We released the dolphin south of the Abertay buoys and it began to swim north, so it was a great result.”
Mr Norman was full of praise for the part played by the RNLI crew.
“We checked the animal over and it looked to be OK,” he said. “The RNLI crew were excellent and really stepped up to the plate and helped us. Without them we would not have had a successful result.”
He also revealed that BDMLR anf the Shanwell Wildlife Rescue Trust are hoping to raise funds to buy pontoons for use specifically on the River Tay, such is the number of animals getting into difficulty.
“This is animal number five on the River Tay in the past year and a half,” he said. “There have been two successful refloats, but sadly three that have been unsuccessful.”
Fore more information on the trust’s work and fund-raising hopes, visit swrt.btck.co.uk/home.
The small female became trapped by the side of Moncreiffe Island at Perth, as waters rapidly became shallow in the early afternoon.
With the dolphin disorientated, circling in low water and thrashing in panic at her situation, onlookers initially feared the worst.
To their relief, she was safely lifted from the water following a painstaking rescue effort, and was taken to Broughty Ferry by road.
With the assistance of the RNLI, she was taken out into deep water at The Bar, off Buddon Point.
The dolphin was spotted by dog-walkers, among them Mark Richardson, an assistant steward at the nearby King James VI Golf Club. An experienced scuba diver, the 41-year-old had his gear at the clubhouse and was soon plunging into the Tay.
“As soon as I heard the dolphin was struggling I got my diving gear and went right in,” he told The Courier. “Instinct just took over. I could see it was beached and I just wanted to get in the river and steer it towards deeper water.”
He was soon joined by a team of experts and members of the emergency services who began the task of leading the dolphin to safety.
Leading the operation were members of British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) and the Shanwell Wildlife Rescue Trust, based at Broughty Ferry.
They guided 10 fire-fighters through the task of corralling and protecting the dolphin, assisted by officers from Tayside Police and the SSPCA.
The dolphin was assessed throughout by veterinary surgeon Stephanie Whyte, who was working as a locum for the day with vet practice Girling and Fraser.
“This was totally unexpected and certainly the first dolphin I’ve helped to treat,” said Stephanie, who admitted she had feared the worst for her patient. “She was floating tummy up when she was found and you never like to see any marine animal in that position, as it’s rarely a good sign for their health.Click here for a full photo gallery“Thankfully she managed to right herself and on examining her she seemed to be in really good spirits. She had some superficial cuts on her tail, probably as a result of thrashing about in shallow waters, but other than that she was bright, alert and sociable and there were no signs of dehydration.
“She didn’t seem too stressed, so it was all good news,” Stephanie added. “Hopefully once back in deep water she will do just fine and will be able to find her way back to her family.”
Once rescuers were happy the dolphin was in fair health, they began to remove her from the water under the guidance of wildlife rescue expert Gareth Norman.
“The initial call we received suggested that we had a porpoise in difficulty but obviously it turned out to be a dolphin,” he said. “I’ve no idea how she got here, but she could well have been feeding at Newburgh and then found herself here at Perth after becoming disorientated.
“With the help of Tayside Fire and Rescue we were able to corral her in the water and then get her into a basket stretcher, which is specifically designed for dolphin rescue, and then a pontoon. The problem was that once she was assessed by the vet, we then had to get her out of the water, and with the banks being quite steep where she was, we had to walk her up river.”
She was lifted into a trailer for transport to Broughty Ferry. Meanwhile, the SSPCA contacted the RNLI’s Broughty Ferry lifeboat crew in the hope of securing a ride for their passenger out to sea.
Continued…