Update 15 October, 16:30:
Following the successful removal of the entanglement from the common dolphin yesterday, our Marine Mammal Medics remained on site to monitor the dolphin’s behaviour and movements. Despite being free of the net, the dolphin continued to circle within the river system and did not take the opportunity to leave with the tide. Herding at this point was not an option due to the low tide making boat access impossible. As darkness fell, teams stood down for the night, with the animal remaining in the same stretch of river.
Very sadly this morning the dolphin was found deceased by our team within the same area. A recovery operation was undertaken by HM Coastguard, the Environment Agency, Police, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk 4×4 Response teams, Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, our Marine Mammal Medics and local contacts to safely access the difficult location to secure and safely winch the dolphin from the river.
Once recovered, an overall assessment was carried out by our Medics, finding it to be a male measuring 2.2m. The body has been placed into storage for the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP), where a post mortem examination will hopefully provide valuable scientific information about the animal’s condition and cause of death.
We would like to extend an enormous thank you to all the agencies, volunteers and local community members who were involved in both the initial rescue and today’s challenging recovery operation. The cooperation and support between everyone involved has been invaluable, despite the sad outcome and needless to say all are devastated by this turn of events. It is unusual for us to receive a callout to a live entangled dolphin, and this incident demonstrates once again the dangers of marine litter to wildlife in the environment. Our colleagues at the Environmental Investigation Agency recently released a review into the welfare impacts of entanglement upon marine mammals, which can be viewed here: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ethology/articles/10.3389/fetho.2026.1882616/full
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Original press release: 14.10.26
On the afternoon of 14 October 2026, British Divers Marine Life Rescue was called to reports of a dolphin within a river system in Suffolk. The animal had been seen swimming in circles and travelling some distance upriver, a behaviour occasionally seen in some species of dolphin and harbour porpoises following food sources, so is not always a cause for concern.
Marine Mammal Medics arrived on scene shortly after and identified it as a common dolphin, however what they also distressingly spotted was a large section of green net tightly wrapped around its beak and pectoral fins. Despite the entanglement, the dolphin was able to breathe and swim strongly, moving up and down the river and actively avoiding vessels nearby.
Suffolk Fire and Rescue from Ipswich provided invaluable assistance on the water with their rigid inflatable boat, working alongside our Marine Mammal Medics and under BDMLR’s guidance to assess the entanglement, monitor the animal’s condition and plan a rescue. With advice from our specialist Large Whale Disentanglement Team, the joint team were able to calmly approach the animal in the FRS RIB and allowed some time for it to acclimatise to their presence. Once it got close enough, they were able to gently get hands on it over the side of the vessel with the aid of a boat hook. From there they were able to efficiently cut it free, assessing its condition and noting only minor wounds associated with the entanglement.
Due to the outgoing tide preventing the RIB from staying out any longer, the dolphin was let go again and will continue to be monitored by BDMLR volunteers. It has every chance to exit the river by itself, however if further intervention is required later a plan is being made on how that may be carried out depending on the circumstances.
We would like to thank Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service whose timely arrival with their boat and crew enabled a swift joint response and successful disentanglement of this common dolphin, and we remain hopeful that it will find its way back to sea. Thank you also to the local PCSO team for their support, and to our Marine Mammal Medics for continuing monitoring throughout the incident and our team member on board the vessel who supported disentangling it too.
If anyone spots the dolphin in the area then we ask people to keep their distance and not attempt to interact with it. This is a critical period of recovery for the animal and it needs time and space to do so without any additional stress or distraction. Sightings or concerns can be reported to the BDMLR hotline on 01825 765546.
