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Dolphin All Washed Up

A YOUNG DOLPHIN — helped back into the sea last Thursday after being beached in Stranraer — never made it out of Lochryan.

For the following morning a walker found the body of the six and half foot Atlantic White Side Dolphin washed up on a beach near Innermessan.

The young dolphin had earlier beached on the Broadstone beach in Stranraer.

And thanks to a rescue attempt on Thursday evening involving local residents, coastguard officers and also life-boat men, it had been given a chance to rejoin the sea.

But, sadly, it never made it out of the Lochryan after washing-up again on a beach near Innermessan.

The rescue attempt the previous day in Stranraer began after the coastguard received a phone call at 7.30 p.m. reporting a beached dolphin which was wriggling about.

Station Officer Colin Brown and Steve Dufton then joined life-boat crewmen Chris Rice, Laurie Irvine and Anthony Simpson at the scene.

They spent the next couple of hours scooping water over the beleaguered dolphin to keep it cool and moist while awaiting advice from Hessilhead Wildlife Centre in Beith, Ayrshire.

Meanwhile, local residents joined in the rescue, including jeweller Hugh Aitken, Robert Farmer and his friend Colin McFadyen.

Robert Farmer said that the dolphin was distressed and confused, as it lay stranded on dry land.

He said: “It was a young dolphin and it was making a squeaking noise like it was shouting out for its mother."