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Two cetaceans euthanized in the UK

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) has had a busy week so far. First, a young mink had become trapped on Fife Beach, Scotland, early on Sunday morning. The team had rushed in in hopes of refloating the animal but found it to be in bad condition upon arrival. Since the tide was still out for hours and considering the animal’s age, its chances of survival were deemed low and the decision to euthanize it was made.


Only two days later, another report on a stranded cetacean came in. This time, a common dolphin near Llanfairfechan in North West Wales. As the tide was at its lowest point, the animal must have been there for several hours already, before the BDMLR was contacted. The team of local medics found the female in “very low condition; [it] had been out of the water for a long time, and was possibly on a second stranding due to its injuries”. Besides the injuries, its nutritional state was poor and its breathing very rapid. The team had to agree that the common dolphin was not well enough to be refloated. Best efforts were made to keep the female comfortable until the euthanization could be performed by a vet or officer half an hour later.

A post-mortem examination will try to determine what caused the common dolphin to get stranded on the beach and possibly also why it was so far away from its usual habitat in the first place.

The condition of the common dolphin was too poor to attempt refloating, so the decision to euthanize it humanely had to be made

The incident of the common dolphin as been covered by BDMLR on their Facebook page




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