Not only are dolphins very intellectual animals, but they also have a
remarkable capacity for empathy. Numerous accounts exist of dolphins
providing a helpful fin to people in perilous circumstances, such as
alerting great white sharks or preventing children from
drowning.
The most recent instance is from Ireland, where a group of dolphins
assisted in the rescue of a swimmer who became trapped in the water close to
Castlegregory in County Kerry.
The swimmer, a man in his 30s from County Down who has not been named, went
missing for over 12 hours on August 22 before being discovered by lifeboat
volunteers from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
His clothing had been found earlier in the day on Castlegregory beach, so
the squad conducted a thorough search. Following a long day of searching, at
around 8:30 p.m., the lifeboat crew discovered, approximately 2.5 miles
offshore, a pod of dolphins encircling the swimmer. The individual was
"hypothermic and exhausted," yet he was aware. He was taken to the hospital
right away, where he is currently doing better.
The man informed rescuers he planned to swim five miles out from his
starting point at Castlegregory beach to Mucklaghmore Rock. But he ended up
chilly and trapped, with nothing on but a pair of swimming trunks.
Conservationists subsequently recognized the creatures encircling him as
members of the Moray Firth bottlenose dolphin population in
Scotland.
The swimmer was fortunate that the gang, who have been sighted in the
region since 2019, was present when he needed them. The pod's size allowed
them to aid in bringing notice to the missing swimmer. The individual was
eventually found where there were "a lot of dolphins around," according to
RNLI coxswain Finbarr O'Connell. "Who knows, maybe they helped him in some
way," he continued.
A disoriented swimmer in County Kerry, Ireland, near Castlegregory beach
was discovered by a pod of dolphins and left stranded for 12 hours.
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animals