Saturday saw back-to-back rescues for the NSRI Gqeberha, where a successful beached bottlenose dolphin rescue kickstarted the day before it ended on another heroic high with a young man saved from drowning!
Gqeberha, South Africa (16 October 2023) — It was a busy Saturday for the NSRI Gqeberha with back-to-back rescues spanning different species and predicaments. The first saw a dolphin rescue underway after the male bottlenose was found beached, while the second saw a young man believed to have been caught in a rip current’s wrath.
The bottlenose dolphin had been discovered in a shallow surf by members of the public in Sardinia Bay; alive and healthy, but not where any dolphin should spend their Saturday.
Shortly after his discovery, the NSRI was activated to assist the dolphin rescue alongside Bayworld staff and marine scientists for the big un-beaching. Rallying their rescue craft, NSRI rescue members were soon hot on the dolphin’s tail and help was on the way.
Upon their arrival, the bottlenose was fortunately found to be in good health. Soon, he was secured into a special marine animal stretcher before being loaded into another vehicle to be transported to a rescue station, whilst in the care of marine professionals and rescuers.
It was discovered that this dolphin may have had a scuffle with a shark which caused a few minor and superficial injuries. But, after a few more assessments he got the green light to set out into the big blue as the teams transported him 5 nautical miles offshore before release into Algoa Bay.
Seas were rough and the rescue was deemed complex, but the strong dolphin was able to swim away after being released, surfacing only once for a breath.
A Bayworld marine scientist indicates with (cautious optimism) that the dolphin will survive.
But, the NSRI Gqeberha’s work for the day wasn’t quite finished yet.
Upon returning to the NSRI Gqueberha rescue station later on, the teams were alerted to a drowning in progress.
Here, members of the public played a big role in helping the NSRI’s rescue craft toward the 23-year-old local man who found himself in the breaking surf line.
The NSRI rescue craft raced to the rescue, negotiating breaking waves to reach him. After being assessed by paramedics he was deemed good to go back to Hobie Beach, with the NSRI believing that strong rip currents had prevented him from getting back to shore initially.
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