If you have no idea what I'm talking about, take a look at the blogpost that I wrote last Sunday dolphin rescue mission
So we all thought the dolphins were reasonably safe in the deeper water inlet. It was kind of agreed that Bert would check up on them the next day.
Waiting for the tide to come in, it was around 1 pm that he set off.
The news was not good. They lay both side by side in the same spot, dead.
We didn't really know what to do about this, but we let everyone who helped know about the sad news. During the rescue I heard about The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group and decided to contact them by email.
On Tuesday I got a response from Lucy Hunt, one of the IWDG officers and we made arrangements that she would come over the next day at around 11 am when it was a suitable tide to go out in the dinghy.
Lucy studied a Joint Honours Degree in marine biology/zoology and was awarded with her Masters in Marine Environmental Protection. She also runs Sea Synergy Marine Awareness and Activity Center in Waterville .
She arrived on the dot and together with Bert they went out with the dinghy.
On arrival at the spot where the dolphins were last seen, they only discovered the remains of the calf. And because of tides that had also moved a bit.
Lucy took the necessary samples to be send to the lab.
The calf died because the mother didn't survive. Finding the remains of the adult dolphin would mean she could take samples from it and really find out what had gone amiss.
Unfortunately after a search in all the coves and inlets around the area, there was no sign of her. Maybe swept out to the sea, or well out of sight in an inlet somewhere.
How powerless and terribly saddened by this event we feel is hard to explain. But I now have Lucy's phone number and email address. She'll be my first port of call if or when this happens again and she can guide us through if she can't be present herself. But I will always call on Etienne, Michael and Vinnie too, because to Bert and to me they are absolutely unmissable in an event that needs clear head thinking and action.
Patricia xxx...x
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