At about midday today (Sunday 20th February 2005), a “dolphin” was seen swimming in circles in Mylor Yacht Harbour, near Falmouth. Members of the public watched it until 4pm, when it stranded in the harbour. The RSPCA were called, who in turn called BDMLR West Cornwall Coordinator Dave Jarvis. Dave mobilised Medics to the area while he and Medic Lesley Jarvis collected the Rescue Trailer.

As Medics began arriving at the harbour, it emerged that just shortly before we got there, members of the public had put the animal back in the water, and it was last seen swimming around the floating pontoons in the harbour. While Medics continued to arrive, we split into groups and searched around the pontoons and along nearby beaches. The people who had refloated the dolphin had already left, so no description of the animal could be confirmed, although it was known to be about 4ft in length.

At around 6:30pm, it was getting dark, and with no luck finding the animal, the decision was made to call off the search. Emergency response leaflets were distributed to people in the area in case the dolphin was found restranded.

We would like to thanks the following for attending this incident: Coordinator Dave Jarvis, Medics Gary Hawkins, Lesley, Phil and Dan Jarvis, Ian Laird, Amanda Forman and her friends, Martin Gaunt, Tamara Cooper (National Seal Sanctuary), Marianne Fellows (NSS), Selina Gregory (NSS), Chris Ellis (NSS) Louise Phillips (NSS volunteer) and RSPCA Inspectors Felicity Cross and Rob Skinner.