On Thursday 15 January, British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) responded to reports of an injured dolphin located on the pebbles at Coombe Martin, Devon.
Marine Mammal Medics attended the incident alongside a veterinary surgeon from Market Vets. On arrival, the dolphin was assessed and found to have superficial injuries, but was otherwise in good body condition. The animal was a young male, and appeared likely to have been recently independent from his mother.
The dolphin remained stable throughout initial care and responded well to first aid provided by the team. With veterinary support on site and once sufficient personnel and equipment were in place, a controlled refloat was attempted.
The dolphin failed to stabilise and showed difficulty maintaining equilibrium in the water. Despite continued efforts by the team to support the dolphin and ensure the refloat was being undertaken as effectively as possible, the animal’s condition did not improve. As sea conditions deteriorated, and with increasing risk to volunteer safety, the decision was made by the attending vet to humanely euthanise the dolphin on welfare grounds to prevent further suffering.
Arrangements are now being made for the dolphin to be recovered for post-mortem (necropsy) examination, which may help provide further understanding of the young dolphin’s health and the circumstances leading to the stranding.
Thank you to the local community and partner agencies for their support, and to everyone who reported promptly and gave the animal space while BDMLR teams responded.
If you see a stranded dolphin or whale anywhere on the UK coastline, please contact the 24/7 BDMLR Hotline on 01825 765546.
If you’re able to, please consider supporting our rescue work – every donation makes a difference: https://www.justgiving.com/charity/Bdmlr
Photographs by Steve Cave, Louisa Bartlett, Annie Brogden
