Rescuers help to float a stranded Bottlenose dolphin that was stuck in Blueskin Bay north of Dunedin. Photo: Supplied/Elisha Kemp
Otago lifesavers swapped beach patrol for dolphin rescue after being alerted to the animal trapped in the shallows of an estuary.
It was all hands on deck as members of the public, Department of Conservation (DOC) staff, lifeguards and Dive Otago pitched in to help the stranded dolphin out of Blueskin Bay near Waitati.
It was a normal patrol day on Warrington Beach for lifeguard Maaike Duncan until she found out about the stranded dolphin.
The dolphin was discovered about 50 metres offshore in the large estuary behind Warrington Surf Life Saving Club on Sunday.
She and two other lifeguards headed over to pitch in, arriving to find lots of spectators and others, some fully clothed, already in the water to help the dolphin.
"They had managed to float the dolphin, basically they were then ... floating, carrying it out towards deeper water," she said.
The volunteers were using what looked like a blanket as a makeshift sling while the lifeguards joined in, supporting its tail with towels, she said.
It was not an easy task.
"I just didn't comprehend when they said there's a dolphin, I was thinking one of the small Hector's Dolphins that were more common ... They're around when we do some of our lifesaving events.
"But not a large Bottlenose dolphin. It was big and they're incredibly heavy. They have an incredibly powerful tail even when it wasn't actively using it."
They stuck to the sides of the estuary, wading through knee to waist deep water towards the entrance.
They had to stick to the shallows because they would have no control as soon as they started swimming, she said.
By then, DOC staff had arrived with pontoons and a proper sling and Dive Otago offered flippers to help them swim across the channel.
They guided the dolphin out another 300 or so metres until they couldn't go any further against the turning tide and released it.
But the Bottlenose dolphin needed to be coaxed beyond the sandbar using an inflatable rescue boat and people power.
"Lots of making noise at our end to stop it from turning and coming back in the channel and eventually it did head back out to see and that's the last we've seen of it."
She was relieved the dolphin rescue was a success. She had never done one before in her two years of lifeguarding, and said it was an incredible team effort from everyone involved.
"It's going to be one of those special days that you look back on because they are very rare and it's definitely not what we expected when we turned up for patrol."
Helping to rescue the Bottlenose dolphin was incredible, but she hoped to only see them in the surf, not stranded in the future.
