A female common dolphin live stranded at Rosdoonstown Beach, near Carnsore, Co. Wexford last Saturday (9 Feb). It was discovered by local man Tom Pearman on his daily walk on the beach. Tom alerted Mac from the IWDG, and with the aid of the Carne Coastguard volunteers, we attempted to re-float the animal at the scene. However, the notoriously dangerous undertow, sloping beach and huge breakers hindered the operation so we decided to take it to St. Margarets beach which offers shelter and better conditions.
Sadly, the dolphin died en-route, much to the dismay of the assembled rescuers. Unfortunately this is often the outcome when faced with live-stranded cetaceans, and I sometimes wonder if it is more humane and appropriate to let these mammals die naturally on their chosen beaches, as manual intervention must only add extra stress. Having said that, every one deserves a second chance and having re-floated several dolphins in the past, I still think it is worthy of an attempt.
Hats off to Tom Pearman, Carne Coastguard Unit, Assumpta Carthy, Jonathan Parle, Shane Sinnott, Caroline Sinnott, Jason White and Nicholas White who got soaked in their endeavours to save this dolphin. It was taken to UCD vet college on Sunday and perhaps the post mortem report will give us an in-sight into why the dolphin expired.
Mac