Sara Maitland

Marine mammal medics are always ready to rescue Britain’s beloved sea species

I have a friend, the nature writer Sally Huband, who lives in Shetland. We exchange emails, although sadly we do not meet often

(and obviously not at all recently), and at the end of May she wrote:

“Last weekend we had a humpback whale in the voe and so close into shore. I got called out in case it stranded, but it was perfectly happy and feeding on plankton. Many of the children in the community saw it close to, it was magical.”

“I got called out...” she wrote – and this is how I discovered that Sally is a marine mammal medic. Indeed, this is how I learned that such a thing even existed. Marine mammal medics are not qualified vets; they are more akin to first-aiders or first responders. And they do receive training for their role. The charity British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) runs courses across the country and has more than 2,000 qualified medics on its books, as well as maintaining a 24-hour national emergency number you can contact if you are concerned about the wellbeing of any marine mammal.

Obviously a degree of training and knowledge of these animals is necessary. For example, Sally explained to me that a beached whale needs to be kept wet but, at the same time, you have to be careful not to get any water into its blowhole. When a whale dives under water, it has a reflex that closes this vital air vent but on the surface it remains open – and

Lynn Hatzius pouring water down it might cause the poor creature to drown. How deeply beautiful and strange that a whale can drown on dry land but not under the sea.

But seals and dolphins and other marine mammals are generally seen as lovable, even though

I am told that seals, for instance, can deliver vicious bites if interfered with or disturbed.

Marine mammal rescues can be highly dramatic – periodically you will read stories of trapped seals being supported in the water for extensive periods of time and with great courage. (Equally, often what might appear to the inexpert to be an animal in need of rescue is no such thing; seals need to lie out of the water in order to digest their food, for instance.)

Any event in which an animal is in jeopardy is more likely to have a happy resolution if the rescuer knows what they are doing. The BDMLR (bdmlr.org.uk) recommends that anyone who sees an animal in trouble stays away from it, keeps an eye on it, rings the emergency rescue line on 01825 765 546, describes the situation and location and waits to warn other people until the qualified medic arrives.

But if you are reasonably fit, over 18, live near the coast and would like to learn more about our seashores and their inhabitants and help support our marine mammals, you might want to take this further and get involved as a marine mammal medic with the

BDMLR yourself.

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