MARRA, a bottlenosed dolphin, struck out for the open sea and an unexpected rendezvous with a “mate” last night, after rescuers freed it from its self-imposed captivity.
The gentle mammal, still only a juvenile, had been holed up in the tidal marina at Maryport on the Cumbrian coast for almost a month. Its presence delighted sightseers as it dived between pleasure craft in search of fish. But recently marine experts had become concerned for its welfare.
Its skin appeared bleached and in danger of ulceration through a lack of salt in the water and it had begun to exhibit “stereotypical behaviour”, swimming up and down the harbour walls in the manner of older zoo animals. It was also losing weight. So there was a sense of real urgency as divers from British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) worked under the concerned gaze of a thousand spectators.
The port authorities waited for the tide to drain the harbour to a few feet, allowing four divers to ease the frightened animal on to a net and then a rigid inflatable stretcher before it was winched by crane on to a waiting boat.
Within minutes it was heading back to its natural habitat. Marra was released in open sea, well away from the harbour. Tony Woodley of the BDMLR, said: “This is the fairytale bit. It was seen to dive four times and then meet up with another dolphin.
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“It was last seen heading out to deep water. We were not expecting the other dolphin at all. To meet up so quickly is quite remarkable.”
The triumph was in contrast to the previous week’s gloom when many of the same people were involved in the unsuccessful attempt to save a bottlenosed whale in the Thames.