happy ending to dolphin tale
Affectionately known as “Lonely”, the young bottle nose dolphin trapped in the shallow tidal lagoon at Yamba for almost a week was sucessfully freed.
The rescue was jointly performed by staff from Dolphin Marine Magic, NSW National Parks & Wildlife Services, wildlife rescue organisation ORCCA and Yamba locals.
The alarm was raised on Tuesday of last week when a pair of dolphins, thought to be a mother and her calf, were spotted in a deep hole in the lagoon in front of the culvert drain running under the Yamba road causeway. Dolphin Marine Magic were called to assess the situation last Wednesday and attempted to free the trapped mammals, the the incoming tide made the catch difficult and in the interests of safety the dolphin rescue was postponed. The dolphins continued to be monitored by staff from DMM, ORCCA and NPWS and on the Thursday morning it was discovered that the mother dolphin had swum out during the night leaving the calf alone. It was hoped the calf would follow but when the calf remained in the lagoon for a further 2 days it was decided that further action was needed. On Sunday rescuers used nets to capture “Lonely”. The dolphin was then driven by car to Whiting Beach and released into the river. “It is highly probable that the calf and its mother are residents of the Clarence River and by releasing the dolphin back into familiar territory we are giving it the best possible chance of survival” said DMM Veterinarian Dr. Duan March.