The beached corpse of a dolphin in Aguadulce (Almería) was dealt with by the Equinac marine-life team, aided by the Guardia Civil.

Equinac is an NGO, which has been authorised by the relevant briney authority to rescue beached cetaceans (marine mammals; i.e., whales, dolphins and porpoises) and the odd turtle in distress along the coast of Almería.

Anyway, it was on Tuesday the 16th that the Guardia Civil, national, communication centre (062) contacted the NGO and their  Roquetas del Mar, Guardia post to deal with the 1.45m-long, dead dolphin on Playa de Aguadulce. After a preliminary examination, the corpse was taken to the Aquarium Costa de Almería for an autopsy.

When dolphins beach themselves, it is either because of disorientation or because they are very ill or badly injuried. For this reason, it’s best not to automatically try and get them back into the sea – it’s better to keep them hydrated and report the find to 112 or 062 – and wait for an expert from the likes of Equinac or the police to arrive and take charge.

If you try to get it back into the water, you could be committing a finable offence because this kind of marine life is a highly protected species.

(News: Aguadulce, Almeria, Andalucia)