A dolphin that became stranded on a beach in Maryport has been rescued and returned to the sea.
The situation unfolded yesterday evening when a member of the public spotted the struggling mammal and called the Lake District Coast Aquarium – based just minutes away from the town’s shoreline – for help.
Three team members including aquarists James Barnett and Arran Demellow and aquarium owner Mark Vollers went out to help the dolphin.
James Barnett, who lives close to the beach, said: “We got a phone call at about 5pm just as we were closing up that there was a dolphin on the beach, so I bombed down there on my bike.
“I ran down the beach and was joined by Mark and Arran and it was really stormy and the tide was coming in. We spotted the dolphin because there was a load of seagulls attacking it, I think they thought it was going to be a free meal.
“Me and Arran just jumped in the water in our clothes, but Mark had the foresight to put waders on, so you can tell why he’s our boss!
“The dolphin was being rolled around in the surf and swell area, so we called Marine Mammal Medics who deal with stranded mammals and they sent someone out. But we were in a good position to move it back into the ocean quickly so that’s what we did.”
James, who looks after fish at the aquarium, explained that the team went on to angle and push the short beaked common dolphin back into the sea, where they made sure it was strong enough to swim away safely.
He added: “Once we got into about half a metre of water it started swimming and off it went. It was weak to begin with but it had a lot of energy and managed to get out there.
“I’ve never actually seen a dolphin before, but I got hands on with it really quick. It was amazing, a really cool experience and it was a big strong animal, you could tell it had a lot of power.
“But it didn’t whack us, I think it maybe understood we were trying to help it out a little bit.”
The rescue was a first for the team at the aquarium who normally don’t receive calls for stranded sea mammals.
James said: “It was very lucky someone spotted it at all because it was terrible weather.
“Hopefully it has managed to get properly back out there, it was a perfect time to get it back out with all the deep water coming in with the tide. So its chances of beaching again were lower because of that and we saw it make a b-line out towards the open sea.”
James went on to stay and wait for an hour as light faded to make sure there was no sign of the dolphins return and said he continued to watch for the sea creature on the beachfront from the window of his home.
The Marine Mammal Medics also waited with James and chatted with him about the situation to make sure no further action was needed.
