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Rescue Diver

Beached Dolphin Rescued by American Innkeepers on Mexican Island

A large male dolphin stranded himself Sunday morning May 18, 2008, on the coral on the beach just beside Villa La Bella, an American owned bed and breakfast, on Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Their quick actions resulted in a successful rescue and release.

One of the workers Luis Alberto Romero Trujillo at Villa La Bella spotted the distressed dolphin around 8:45 AM Sunday morning when he went to hang the hammocks in the yard overlooking the beach. He quickly notified Curtis and Ashley Blogin, American owners of the bed and breakfast, and the two raced to see what they could do to help.

He seemed to know all along that we were trying to help

The dolphin was quite large, and the two could not move him at all. Curtis kept water on the dolphin while Ashley raced back to the house, gave directions to the location to the police, and phoned Pepe, the island vet. Curtis yelled for help from a small crowd that was gathering on the cliff above, and a couple of men climbed down the rocks to help Curtis get the dolphin back into the water.

Unfortunately the dolphin was so exhausted and disoriented that it was swimming sideways and kept running into the large rocks just off the shore. Ashley and Curtis got in the water and acted as human bumpers between the dolphin and the rocks; however, the dolphin finally found a sandy path to the beach and stranded itself again.

The dolphin had bite marks on his nose and tail as well as injuries from the coral on his side. While waiting for the Navy and other rescue boats to arrive, the island vet Pepe arrived and jumped right in the water, cowboy boots and all. Ashley, Curtis and Pepe kept the dolphin as comfortable as possible until two civil protection representatives arrived, and the group of five were able to get the dolphin back into the water and let it rest in their arms.

A Navy boat was first to arrive followed closely by the park patrol and a Profepa (government environmental impact) boat, and two divers with a harness headed for the dolphin. The harness was successfully attached, and although the water had gotten rougher, the dolphin never resisted.

"He seemed to know all along that we were trying to help," said Curtis.

With the harness safely attached the boat slowly led the dolphin to deeper water beyond the reef where they could remove the harness and lead the dolphin back to the south end of the island where a deep-water channel is located. By the time they got the dolphin to the Puenta Sur, the dolphin had time to rest, regain his strength, and swam away on his own.

While it is only speculation, the male dolphin appeared to be a 20- 25 year old male weighing more than 350 pounds. Based on the dolphin's injuries, he had been in a fight with another dolphin and sustained damage to his body and sonar, which is located in the nose. Between being exhausted from the fight and having his ability to navigate damaged, he beached himself accidentally.

For additional information on the news that is the subject of this release, contact Ashley M. Blogin or visit http://www.villalabella.com.

About the Author

Started as a free lance writer earlier for Maharashtra Herald Newspaper, then with the Pune-Mid-Day. Have also contributed for articles on websites

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