On Sunday 08 December British Divers Marine Life Rescue was alerted to a dolphin stranding in Llandudno, North Wales. Medics raced to the scene, at the tail end of Storm Darragh, and unfortunately found that the dolphin had been put back into the surf and was floundering around 30 metres offshore in high waves.
The dolphin soon stranded again and was taken further up the beach by Medics for an assessment. The young male common dolphin was to found to have sustained extensive deep lacerating injuries on the underside of the fluke, around the eye and along his beak from being rolled around in the surf on a pebble beach. Medics removed debris from the dolphin’s eyes and cleaned his wounds whilst attempting to make him comfortable as he was extremely stressed.
Sadly, once an animal has stranded twice the chance of survival is minimal. Coupled with the likelihood that the dolphin had and underlying condition, his young age, extensive injuries, and an unsuitable location for a refloat due to the storm, the difficult decision was made to euthanise to reduce his suffering.
We would like to thank the Llandudno locals who came down to offer their support; Holly from Natural Resource Wales for her assistance throughout the long day as well as bringing the team hot drinks and hot water bottles; Wern Vets Cyf for their assistance with the euthanasia and Llandudno coastguard for safety cover.
