Where was a dolphin marooned on a sandbar that was called the best place?”
A dolphin picked the best place to get stranded yesterday – metres from a Bay of Islands reserve staffed by volunteers trained in marine mammal rescue. Justin Fitton, a caretaker at Aroha Island, a community-run nature reserve in Kerikeri Inlet, said he was alerted to the stranding when workers from a nearby oyster farm came knocking at his door about 7.50am. “I jumped straight on the phone and let DoC know, then came down with buckets and towels to keep it hydrated,” he said. The female common dolphin was stuck fast on a sandbar about 10m from the water. It appeared distressed and was bleeding where it had cut its belly on oysters. Mr Fitton directed the rescuers, who kept the dolphin wet and dug a trench to the water’s edge, “until the DoC cavalry arrived”. The dolphin – 2.3m long and weighing an estimated 200kg – was carefully rolled on to a plastic sheet and carried back into the water about 10am. It was soon splashing and swimming strongly in the inlet. Mr Fitton said it appeared
A dolphin picked the best place to get stranded yesterday – metres from a Bay of Islands reserve staffed by volunteers trained in marine mammal rescue. The female common dolphin was stuck fast on a sandbar about 10m from the water. It appeared distressed and was bleeding where it had cut its belly on oysters. DoC rangers followed the dolphin by boat as far as Motupapa Island, at the mouth of Kerikeri Inlet, to make sure it was feeding and swimming normally.
A dolphin picked the best place to get stranded yesterday – metres from a Bay of Islands reserve staffed by volunteers trained in marine mammal rescue. The female common dolphin was stuck fast on a sandbar about 10m from the water. It appeared distressed and was bleeding where it had cut its belly on oysters. Mr Fitton directed the rescuers, who kept the dolphin wet and dug a trench to the water’s edge, “until the DoC cavalry arrived”. The dolphin – 2.3m long and weighing an estimated 200kg – was carefully rolled on to a plastic sheet and carried back into the water about 10am. It was soon splashing and swimming strongly in the inlet.
