Stranded dolphins take lifesaving road trip

PEOPLE who answered a call for help in Cloghane on Friday cooperated in saving the lives of four dolphins that were left stranded beside the seaside village by the retreating tide.

The four ‘sub-adult’ dolphins were discovered near the old Cloghane creamery at 11am on Friday by two walkers who contacted local woman Louise Overy who works as head aquarist with the Mara Beo aquarium in Dingle. Louise immediately left work in Mara Beo and, after arriving back home to Cloghane, rounded up a crew of volunteers at the community centre. Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) member Nick Massett from Ventry was also alerted and arrived to pitch in with the rescue effort.

With the tide falling rapidly, Louise decided it would be too risky to attempt to guide the stricken dolphins back to the sea along the long, shallow channel that winds through Cloghane estuary, opting instead to bring them four kilometres by road to the deep water at Brandon pier.

One dolphin was carefully lifted into Louise’s Mara Beo van while the others were transported in a trailer borrowed from a local farmer and within an hour and a half of being discovered all four dolphins were back in the water at Brandon pier where they quickly got their bearings and headed out for the open sea.

Friday’s rescue replicated a similar event that occurred just over a year ago when a dolphin and her young calf were stranded in almost exactly the same spot in Cloghane. Because the Cloghane estuary is like a ‘glue trap’ for dolphins that go too far in their pursuit of sea trout, Louise, in conjunction with Mara Beo and the IWDG, is now planning to host a workshop where people can learn about rescuing stranded dolphins.

Photo by Nick Massett One of the stranded dolphins being carried in a sling to the waiting Mara Beo van.