Tsunami dolphin released back to the seas!

After the December 2004 Tsunami, which struck the Souther Coast of Thailand, the Wildlife Friends of Thailand / Marine Research & Rescue Project went to the rescue of the animals in the damaged areas…

One successful rescue that received substantial media attention involved the return to the sea of a 10 year old indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphin that had became stranded in a small lagoon near Kao Lak after apparently being washed ashore by the waves. Edwin, founder of WFFT & the Marine Research & Rescue Project, was actively involved in the rescue effort from the start in co-operation with Khun Kongkiart and local villagers.

The dolphin was discovered on January the 3rd by a local man looking for his missing wife who alerted others to the dolphin’s plight. The dolphin needed to be returned to sea as quickly as possible as she was slowly being poisoned by the stagnant water in which she was trapped which was polluted with dead bodies and debris. She had little food to eat in the lake so needed to be fed to keep her strength up.

Catching her initially proved to be very challenging due to lack of necessary equipment and the fact that the nets being used to catch her kept getting caught on debris in the lake and ripping. After numerous attempts to capture her, the dolphin was finally trapped and lifted out of the lake on Wednesday the 5th and placed on a stretcher on a pick up truck to be driven a short distance to the beachfront.

Edwin was able to administer both antibiotics and wound treatment and other necessary first aid before letting her go. After being lifted into the Andaman sea the dolphin swiftly swam away without a backward glance to the cheers of all those involved in her rescue. One uplifting story in a time of so much grief and tragedy.