Cristina Hodgson
THE Maritime Service of the Civil Guard has rescued, with the help of several local divers, a 4-metre-long beaked whale, which has the appearance of a large dolphin, that was disoriented and in dire straits a few metres from the shore of the beach of Torrenueva Costa, in Granada.
The incident took place last Tuesday, May 17, when, at around 9 pm, bystanders alerted the Guardia Civil that there was a what looked like a dolphin seemingly trapped by the breakwaters of the beach, in a shallow spot less than five metres from the shore.
With the aid of three civilian divers, the Guardia Civil were able to undertake a successful rescue operation of the animal who had suffered cuts due to rubbing against the rocks of the breakwater.
After several hours of laborious work, the divers managed to tie a rope around the cetacean’s tail and pass it to the Guardia Civil officers that were onboard a Maritime Service patrol boat.
Night had well and truly fallen by the time the beaked whale, thanks to the combined efforts of the divers and Guardia Civil, was safely towed back out to high sea, where at some 300 metres from the shore, it was freed.
READ MORE:
- January sees surge of dolphin deaths on Spain’s Costa del Sol beaches
- Massive whale beaches itself in Estepona in the south of Spain
