South Arm residents respond to social media call to rescue stranded bottlenose dolphin

Animal lovers have come together at a popular beach near Hobart to save a stranded dolphin, many hands making light work to get the critter back in the water. SEE THE AMAZING RESCUE >>

AFTER several hours of hard work and a lot of heavy lifting, a group of animal lovers and scientists have successfully rescued a stranded bottlenose dolphin at South Arm.

WATCH THE RESCUE BELOW >>

Local photographer Jo Malcomson, from Blackpaw Photography, captured the drama on film. When she arrived there were already 8-10 people on the ground, digging a trench to keep the dolphin cool.

Rescuers pouring water on the stranded dolphin to help keep him cool – a vital part of keeping him safe.

“(It was) entirely exhilarating, very dramatic of course, there were a few moments where the dolphin, because they had such a beautiful deep hole – it was like the dolphin was in a puddle and was only slightly touching the sand underneath,” she said.

“Every so often it would think it could get out of (the trench), it would swoosh its tail and a huge splash and whoever was unlucky enough to be standing behind got totally covered,” she laughed.

A bit of drama for the day! He’s now released and hopefully on his way back to his pod 🐬

Posted by Blackpaw Photography on Tuesday, 2 June 2020

Many hands made light work as rescuers responded to a social media call-out on Whale Spotting Tasmania on Facebook.

Almost 20 people responded to a social media call-out to help carry to the dolphin as part of the rescue.

“It was one of those days where it was intermittent sun and howling, nasty wind with rain thumping into you,” Ms Malcomson said.

Those who weren’t able to help with the heavy lifting or wetting the dolphin down brought coffees and lollies to support the hardworking rescuers.

DPIPWE scientists said the bottlenose dolphin was a “robust” male, with no signs of injury.

DPIPWE arrived around noon and the rescuers helped hoist the dolphin into a sling and carried it back up to a waiting dinghy, ready for release.

Scientists and rescuers carried the dolphin to the dinghy, before travelling down to the South Arm boat ramp to launch.

Dr Kris Carlyon, wildlife biologist in the marine conservation at DPIPWE said the public had done a great job maintaining the animal, and that he had all the signs of being very healthy and able to be released.

Scientists motored out a couple of hundred metres to clear water before releasing the dolphin.

“These stranded whales and dolphins can be prone to overheating so the weather was very helpful in this instance,” he said.

The spot, on the inside of the neck at South Arm is known for marine mammal strandings

“We figure it was foraging close to shore overnight and it simply got caught out by the tide going out,” Mr Carlyon said.

DPIPWE were positive the dolphin would make a strong recovery and hopeful he would find his pod again.

The DPIPWE crew took the dolphin overland to the South Arm boat ramp where they launched, and released the dolphin several hundred metres off shore to cheers from onlookers and rescuers.

If you see a stranded, injured or entangled marine mammal, you can contact DPIPWE on 0427 WHALES (0427 942 537) for advice and instruction.

Time is critical during a rescue attempt, and rapid notification provides the greatest chance of success.