Dolphin Rescue in Belize
31 March 2002
On
Saturday, 12th January 2002, the management and staff of
The Belize Academy of Diving helped to free an
eight-foot dolphin and her four-foot calf from an
abandoned fish trap, a few minutes north of the Avalon
Reef Club in Belize, Central America.
At around 2pm on Saturday afternoon, a member of the Avalon Reef Club staff notified Tracey Leask, owner manager of The Belize Academy of Diving, that they had seen two dolphins stuck in an abandoned fish trap, less than five minutes from the resort. Craig Coombs and Harden Flores, also of The Belize Academy of Diving were leaving on a dive trip when they heard the news, and immediately changed their plans. They gathered some cutting tools and headed off to the abandoned trap.
When
they arrived at the scene they were at once both
dismayed and excited by what they saw. The two dolphins
were indeed stuck inside the trap, but at least they
were swimming freely. Here follows the story of their
rescue:
Nobody knew exactly how long the dolphins had been in the trap, and the mother, who we have since named Rosa, seemed to be in a high state of stress. Craig and Harden both entered the water to assess the situation and to allow the dolphins to get used to their presence. Although the entrance to the enclosure was open, Rosa was very wary about going through it. We assumed that this was because the entrance to the enclosure led to shallower water and eventually the beach. Due to dolphins' exceptional sense of direction, and their sonar capabilities, we decided that Rosa would probably feel happier exiting the enclosure towards the reef and deeper water.
It was then that we decided to start
dismantling the fence on the reef side of the enclosure.
This took approximately 20 minutes, and we had a 6'
opening for them to escape through. We spent the next
hour trying to herd the two dolphins through the
opening, but Rosa was still too wary of what might be
waiting for them outside. We decide to open the fence up
some more, and eventually had a 10' wide opening for
them escape through. Again we entered the enclosure and
tried to encourage them through the opening.
After about 10 passes, Rosa decide to leave the enclosure and see what was out there. She had begun to trust us with her calf, who we have called Temor, whilst she investigated the outside world. After a minute or so she returned and started clicking and squeaking to Temor. This scenario continued for another half hour, but every time Rosa left the enclosure, Temor made an abrupt turn and stayed inside. Craig and Harden changed tactics at this stage and tried to form a human barrier and squeeze Temor out of the enclosure. This only succeeded in upsetting Rosa, and she made a number of rapid, close passes, which convinced them to try something else.
At this stage Harden had to leave for home, so Craig went back to the dive centre to fetch Tracey, and they returned to find the two dolphins still swimming around inside the trap.
After another hour or so of failed
attempts to lure Temor through the opening, Craig and
Tracey had to leave as night was falling, and they
thought that their presence might be a factor in Temor
not wanting to leave the enclosure. The good news is
that the next morning when Craig went to check on them,
the trap was empty, and they had made their successful
return to the freedom of the turquoise waters of the
Caribbean.
The Belize Academy of Diving is pleased to announce that, as of Sunday 20th January, the trap has been dismantled and no longer poses a threat to the marine population.
The above article appeared in the
March 2002 issue of
Sport Diver, the official magazine of the PADI
Diving Society in the UK. The story was also
covered by Dive magazine, which is the official journal
of the British Sub-Aqua Club.