Trapped dolphin rescued from Sharpness Port

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-34426608

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Lifeboat crews have rescued a dolphin trapped in Sharpness Port, Gloucestershire.

The dolphin is believed to have followed two container ships up the Severn Estuary into the port basin, where it was trapped by the low tide.

Geoff Dawe, from the Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA), said it was a "race against the tides" to rescue the dolphin.

Two lifeboats were used to guide the animal out of the shipping complex.

Mr Dawe said it took nearly two hours to coax the dolphin back out into the estuary.

"He was a little devil. He kept diving underneath the two boats and we couldn't get him to the entrance of the basin," he said.

Mike Nash, from the Canal and River Trust's Sharpness Port team, said: "I've never seen a dolphin inside the port and we had to do everything we could to stop it heading up the canal."

Laura Mullholland, ecologist at the Canal and River Trust, said: "Sightings of dolphins on the country's inland waterways are very rare. It's likely that the animal got a bit disoriented following some fish."

Mr Dawe said the dolphin, believed to be a juvenile bottlenose, appeared to be healthy and there had been no further sightings "so fingers crossed for him".