Dolphin rescued at Cape St Francis

CAPE ST FRANCIS:Sarah Smith, NSRI St Francis Bay station commander, said:This morning, Sunday, 21st January, we had a rescue of a different kind. One of our crew members was alerted to a stranded Bottlenose dolphin approximately 2 meters in length off the Cape St Francis Lighthouse. He immediately contacted Dr. Greg Hofmeyr from Bayworld Marine, who contacted me and requested official assistance.We mobilised and NSRI St Francis Bay crew went to the scene and assessed the situation, finding the dolphin high and dry 25 meters from the outgoing tide on rocks. SANCCOB members arranged towels and buckets for water. The dolphin was bathed and wrapped in wet towels and after guidance from Dr. Hofmeyr we moved the dolphin using a Stokes basket stretcher to the harbour where we got onto Ski Boat 'Sea Wolf' with the help of Brandon Kennedy and Marc White.We took the dolphin just over a mile outside the harbour and released him. Conditions weren't great with approximately 4 meter swells and breaching over the harbour wall. But the dolphin swam confidently once in the water.We'd like to thank both Mark White and Brandon Kennedy as well as the initial people on scene, Penny (volunteer at SANCCOB) and the gentleman who was walking his dogs who alerted everyone.