Fisherman rescues Dolly the sheep hundreds of metres off the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia
A FISHERMAN has come upon an unusual catch — a sheep floundering hundreds of metres off the Fleurieu Peninsula. The question now is: How did she get there?
A SHEEP has found itself in deep water after it was discovered floundering several hundred metres off the South Australia coast on Sunday morning.
The sheep, nicknamed “Dolly”, had been treading water for an unknown period of time when a lone fisherman in a dinghy came upon it off the Fleurieu Peninsula, near Second Valley, on Sunday morning.
Second Valley Caravan Park manager Gregory Woods said the sheep was exhausted when it was found by the fisherman.
“She was some distance from shore, several hundred metres I would say,” Mr Woods.
“The fisherman tried to drag her onto the boat because she was absolutely exhausted, she could barely keep her head above water.”
“She had a pretty long fleece so that was dragging her down.”
The fisherman managed to wrestle Dolly on board and took the distressed sheep back to shore at Second Valley Beach.
Beachgoers helped the man lift the exhausted and distressed sheep from the boat and placed her on the beach where she lay, catching her breath.
Mr Woods said the current theory was that she had fallen off a sheep carrier out at sea.
“There are a couple of things that make us think she fell off a ship,” Mr Woods said.
“There are no other sheep in the district that are of that age, she was still a lamb and not quite a ewe, but she was certainly heading in that direction.
“She also doesn’t have any ear tags or markings of any kind.”
Dolly was taken to a nearby sheep farm where she was given a much needed drink and put out in a quiet paddock to recover.
“She has bounced back quite nicely,” Mr Woods said.
“I think the farmer plans to give her a clip and then see how she goes.”
