22 April 2006

A large dead bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) some 3.2 metres long was found on an Isles of Scilly shore last Saturday and reported to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Marine Strandings Network by Steve and Pam Manning. Wedged on a rocky part of the coast at Watermill Cove to the east of St Mary's it was over a quarter of a tonne in weight.

Paul Jepson, of the Institute of Zoology, who was directly involved in the Thames whale incident a few months ago, advised the dolphin should be recovered so that samples could be taken. The sending of a RIB from the mainland was discounted.

Maddie Precious, who runs the Marine Strandings Network hotline, mobilised six Marine Strandings Network volunteers, Caroline Curtis, Gary Hawkins, Dan Jarvis, Tim Bain, Tamara Cooper and Chris Ellis. The volunteers planned to travel to Scilly and return with the bottlenose dolphin on the RMV Scillonian.

The volunteer team liaised with island divers Mark and Susie Groves and David McBride, local councillor Ralph Banfield, IoS Strandings Network volunteer Tristan Folland and Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust personnel and other helpers to assess how the dolphin could be recovered.

The idea of a landward evacuation was abandoned because of health and safety reasons and it was decided to ease the mammal into the water at high tide using planks and a rope attached to its tail.

It was then towed by rigid inflatable, around to St Mary's harbour where the crane on Scillonian III was used to move the bottlenose to the quayside.

The dolphin was inspected, photographed and measured before being craned aboard RMV Scillonian for the trip to the mainland. It was confirmed to be about 3.2m in length, female, with both fresh and old rake marks (scratches from other dolphins' teeth), caused by other bottlenose dolphins based on the spacing of the marks. Apart from that there appeared to be nothing particularly unusual to indicate cause of death, as there were no obvious bycatch or propeller injuries.

Back at Penzance, the dolphin was winched from the RMV Scillonian onto a trailer and transported to the DEFRA Veterinary Laboratories agency ready for post-mortem, where veterinary pathologist Nick Davidson met the team to get the carcass into storage as quickly as possible.

This was a hugely successful operation thanks to our volunteers and others who were so willing to help. A big "thank you" to:

Paul Jepson (Institute of Zoology), Nick Davidson (VLA), David McBride (IoS contact), Mark and Susie Groves (RIB operators), Tristan Folland and his volunteers (IoSWT), Ralph Banfield (IoS Council member), the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company, the Captain and crew of Scillonian III, the quayside hands at St Mary’s and Penzance, Steve and Pam Manning (reporters of the carcass), Maddie Precious (CWT Marine Strandings Network hotline coordinator), Dave, Lesley and Dan Jarvis, Caroline Curtis, Gary Hawkins, Tim Bain, Tamara Cooper, Chris Ellis, Nick Tregenza, Simon Bone (CWT Marine Strandings Network volunteers).