Thai rescuers save trapped dolphin

Wednesday, January 5, 2005

KHAO LAK, Thailand (Reuters) -- Rescuers have saved a dolphin swept over a Thai beach by the tsunami that devastated shores around the Indian Ocean, but failed on Wednesday to find her calf in a filthy lake left behind by the giant wave.

After two days of bickering between Thai and foreign experts over how to save the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, the adult animal was finally plucked from the lake in a net and released into the sea more than 1 km (1,100 yards) away.

"She swam away like a rocket. It was fantastic," said animal rescue expert Edwin Wiek. "I thought she was going to be a lot weaker."

However, rescuers failed to locate her calf which had been dumped in the same fetid lake by the wall of water that smashed over Thailand's Andaman Sea coastline on December 26.

Watchmen were told to monitor the tiny lake through the night in the hope of spotting the small calf.

"I'm afraid she's probably dead," said Wiek, a Dutch national who has worked in Thailand for more than a decade.

The rescue of the adult female, which had a distinctive pink and gray fin, represented a triumph for the Thai authorities who shunned advice from international experts and devised a scheme with local fishermen to catch the dolphin.

Using two nets, they cornered the 2-meter animal in one corner of the lake and maneuvered it ashore and onto the back of a truck where Wiek treated a gash along its side.

Locals said many animals managed to flee the tsunami before it hurtled ashore and Wiek said he was amazed that so little wildlife appeared to have died.

"It proves that animals have a sixth sense," he said. "I think most of the dolphins also managed to get out of the way.

Five corpses were scooped from the dolphins' lake on Tuesday and a team of Greek divers who inspected the site earlier this week said they believed a number of other bodies were still trapped in debris beneath the waters.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/01/05/tsunami.dolphins.reut/


---------------------------------------------------------------------------


Dolphins trapped by tsunami in Thai lake

04 January 2005

KHAO LAK: Rescuers have failed to catch two rare dolphins trapped for eight days in a small lake in southern Thailand after they were swept more than a kilometre inland by giant tsunami waves.

The exhausted dolphins, one of which appeared to be injured, were dumped in a 300 metre by 200 metre lake left by the wall of water that struck Thailand's Andaman Sea coastline on December 26.

"I'm pretty sure there are two dolphins. We see one frequently, but the other one is more shy," said Edwin Wiek of the Wildlife Rescue Unit of Thailand.

He believed they were swept ashore in the first or second waves and were stuck behind a 4-5 metre embankment about 1400 metres from the sea.

"When the water retreated, the dolphins probably could not follow and swim out," said Wiek, adding they appeared to be Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins, also known as speckled dolphins, found mainly in the Indian Ocean or western Pacific.

About 50 rescuers – including a team of Greek divers in Thailand to search for corpses hidden in similar lakes – tried to corner one of the dolphins with a net, but failed.

"He slipped away twice and we gave up. We need a bigger net to lock him in," said Wiek.

He said the dolphins had probably been without food since they were trapped. Rescuers, who will return on Tuesday, tossed fish into the murky water to try and keep the animals alive.

The Indo-Pacific Humpback has a long, slender beak and gets its name from the fatty hump under its dorsal fin. Adults grow to about 2.0-2.8 metres and weigh about 150-200kg, according to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

Scientists view the dolphins as broadly threatened by habitat loss, pollution and hunting.

"They are very rare and that is a second reason to get them out and back into the sea," Wiek said.