Date: Fri, 8 Dec 1995
STRANDED DOLPHINS SAVED BY CLEAR-THINKING LOCALS
South Australia

ADELAIDE, Dec 6 AAP - Two adult dolphins stranded on tidal sands in South Australia's Coffin Bay National Park owe their lives to the efforts of two local people, wildlife authorities said today. National Parks and Wildlife Service west district manager Ross Allen said Tom Hyde and Myriam Sheehy (Sheehy) were out walking around 3pm when they discovered the female Bottlenose Dolphins, some two-metres in length and weighing about 300kg each.

Tom, 21, and Myriam, 18, kept the animals wet, covered them in clothing to guard against sunburn, and telephoned wildlife authorities.
"They were out on the sandflats and initially we thought they were dead," said Tom, who lives on a farm at nearby Coomunga, about 10km north of Port Lincoln, 670km west of Adelaide.
"We only saw one at the start and when it began breathing that gave us bit of a fright."
"I'm sure that if they (Tom and Myriam) had done nothing,it would have been absolutely disastrous for the dolphins," Mr Allen said. "They might well have died."

A team of four National Parks and Wildlife Service officers arrived at the scene, digging in under the dolphins to place them on slings specially designed for the retrieval of marine animals. Their size and weight meant it took the NPWS staff an hour to lift each dolphin across 200-300 metres of sand flats and back out to sea. Mr Allen said the dolphins were probably stranded after chasing fish in the shallows and and misjudging the tide. He said it was rare for authorities to find Bottlenose dolphins stranded because they lived near the shore and were used to fishing close-in.
"The first thing to do is to get water on them (stranded dolphins), to make them feel comfortable, which they did, and they had some clothing they got wet and then draped over them," Mr Allen said.
"So by the time we got to them, they weren't in too bad (a) condition, though theywere showing some signs of distress and sunburn.
"It took us the best part of an hour each (dolphin), to get them back into the water. They were that heavy."



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