Volunteers attend dolphin stranding
The volunteers from Marine Dynamics Academy had the opportunity to get hands-on experience working with a marine mammal.
Written by Ralph Watson, Feb 4 2020
Working with the Mammal Research Institute - Whale Unit
This opportunity came after the Dyer Island Conservation Trust received word of a dolphin stranding along our coast. Closer inspection showed it to be a bottlenose dolphin, a species that occurs naturally in our waters.
Led by marine biologist Ralph Watson, the volunteers assisted with measuring and collecting samples of the animal. It showed no external markings of predation, so no clear indication could be made about why the animal washed up on our beach.
The Trust works closely with the Mammal Research Institute – Whale Unit in Hermanus monitoring marine mammals along our shores.
Stranding response in the Overberg area falls under the South African National Stranding Network and is managed by a collaborative group of organisations: CapeNature, Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Dyer Island Conservation Trust, Lower Breede River Conservancy, Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit, NSRI, Overberg District Municipality, Overstrand Municipality, South African Shark Conservancy and Southern Wildlife and Environmental Society