Crawsnest (Tay Dolphins)

HELP US HELP THE DOLPHINS…

SWRT have today launched an appeal to raise £7,000 to purchase and equip a marine mammal rescue trailer which will be based at Dundee and equipped with specialist equipment such as dry suits, life jackets, veterinary equipment, inflatable pontoons, generators, lighting, water pump etc which will allow us to provide a rapid professional response to a dolphin or whale stranding.

Please consider making a donation or organising a fundraiser to help us raise this £7,000 before the return of the Tay dolphins in 2012. Visit our web page, DolphinRescueSection to make a donation.

Shanwell Wildlife Rescue Trust (SWRT), was established in 2004 in Broughty Ferry, Dundee on the North East of Scotland to provide a frontline rescue and treatment service for injured wild animals.

As Tayside’s only dedicated volunteer wildlife rescue service we currently operate our wildlife care unit and a fully equipped wildlife rescue ambulance.

Our aim is to heal every animal capable of surviving its injuries and return it back to its natural environment, while giving those who will not survive, a comfortable and dignified death.

Shanwell Wildlife Rescue Trust is operated by volunteers who do not receive payment for their services, our common commitment is for the welfare of wildlife and the environments in which they live.

Note from Gareth via facebook

“We have just returned from the dolphin rescue training at Broughty Ferry beach. It went very well and we managed to save the dolphin manikin again.

Thanks to Kevin, Barry, Lynn, Allan, Stewart for coming along, hope you all learned a lot. And thank you to Stephanie for the lovely shortbread..

As it was a nice day there were a large amount of people out walking and we generated a lot of interest and gave away numerous cards. We even had the RNLI inshore boat skirt by to see what was going on…

Next dolphin training session will be in March.”

If you are interested in the work of SWRT then please visit their webpage.

I received a call from Stewart Burns last evening asking if I could assist him with a seal that had swum up the Barry Burn and had been cut off by the receding tide.

Upon arrival it was obvious that the seal was confused about which way to swim as the route to the sea now required it to go through shallow areas of the burn. It was continuously trying to haul out, but was unable to due to the steep sides of the burn at the golf course. With a little encouragement we were able to persuade the seal to head seawards and we followed at a distance so as not to stress the animal further.

Once the animal had made it past the shallows it seemed to get a clearer picture of where the sea was and it made good progress. Once at the sea it took off with no hesitation and was soon out of sight beyond the surf.

Many thanks to all concerned… The animal is now back where it belongs…:)

Along with a steady stream of dolphins, we have a couple of unusual visitors to the area. A pair of black swans have been frequenting the area around the mouth of the dighty burn…

Full story: Courier

The season has started well enough this year with the dolphins returning in increasing numbers over the last couple of weeks…

This sunday past saw a good number of them both in the river and at the mouth of the estuary as well as a little further north…

We have also had a number of reports via facebook of dolphins being seen in the surrounding waters…

Keep watching!!!

(pic: Stewart Burns)

British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), Shanwell Wildlife Rescue Trust, Tayside Fire and Rescue Service and the RNLI team up to release stranded dolphin

A dolphin has been successfully released into the sea after becoming stranded in the River Tay at Perth.

The animal had been reported in distress at Moncrieff Island on Thursday at around 10.00am.

In an operation led by BDMLR and Shanwell Wildlife Rescue Trust, the dolphin was caught and taken by road to Broughty Ferry, where a waiting RNLI crew helped take it out to open water for release.

Despite suffering some superficial cuts in the shallow water at Perth, the animal was judged to be in good health and the wildlife experts are hopeful that it will survive its adventure.

The Courier was given exclusive access on board the lifeboat throughout the operation. (See Courier report plus video)

A huge Thank You to:

The staff at King James VI Golf Club, especially David Awburn who made life easy for the rescue team by providing transport to and from the site.

Tayside Fire and Rescue Service, for providing valuable man power and equipment to help with todays rescue.

Tayside Police PC G. Samuel and Scottish SPCA Beverly O’Lone for helping with communications at times.
Stephanie Whyte the Vet from Girling and Fraser Ltd, Gareth, Harry and Stephanie Smith and anyone else that i have failed to mention that was involved.

Thank you for all your help and support today.

Stewart Burns

Out for the dog walk this morning and lo and behold the swifts are back… A few days later than usual, but always worth the wait… Standing on the brig watching them as they feed on the midgies above the burn. It’s kind of strange to think that just a couple of weeks ago they were swooping around on the plains of Africa……

They normally show up around the 21st April, but I’m guessing the high pressure further south slowed them up this year as there wouldn’t have been any tailwinds to speed them along….

Makes it feel like summer is truly here….

The Greens want to bring back plans to designate Scottish waters as a whale and dolphin sanctuary.

The party’s proposed “cetacean” sanctuary is one of several marine policies in its Scottish election manifesto published on Tuesday.

Attempts by the Greens to create a whale and dolphin sanctuary as an amendment to last year’s Scottish Marine Bill were voted down by the other parties.

Although, hunting and killing whales and dolphins is banned in British waters, the amendment would have meant all planning applications at sea would have to take dolphin and whale habitats and routes into account.

The sanctuary would cover all of Scotland’s inshore and offshore waters out to the 200-mile territorial limit, and would introduce a presumption of protection for whales and dolphins while in those waters.

Eleanor Scott, the party’s co-convener, said: “Scottish waters provide one of the best whale-watching opportunities in Europe.

“The designation of the whole of Scotland’s seas as a cetacean sanctuary would assist Scotland’s growing whale and dolphin-watching businesses, and would provide much needed support for remote and coastal communities that rely on eco-tourism for much of their income and employment.”

The Greens have also pledged to end the legal shooting of seals, block ship-to-ship oil transfers, end the dumping of waste at sea and work with other countries to end global whaling.

Source: Press Association

British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) is having a information stand and small display at Wormit Boat Club Centenary Open Day.

The open day is on Saturday 30th April @ 11.00am. For more information look at Wormit Boat Club page: http://homepages.rya-online.net/wormit or BDMLR page: www.bdmlr.org.uk

Hi everyone… Well, April is here again, just awaiting the arrival of the swifts to know that summer is upon us… Looking forward to the return of the dolphins in greater numbers after a quiet winter….

A word of thanks to everyone who reported sightings over the winter months. Your input is greatly appreciated. Thanks to Jeem for his report of two porpoises.. they are not seen so often now and it’s nice to know there are still some in the immediate vicinity…

We are just gearing up for the coming season and will be out on sighting duty on a regular basis soon… Perhaps we’ll see some of you there?

May I ask you to continue to report sightings to us… It all helps the welfare of the dolphins and other cetaceans in the long run…

Thanks!!!