After
a couple of false alarms, this week I had my first real Marine
Stranding.
In
September last year, about 30 volunteers attended a Marine Strandings
Network workshop in the Parkhouse Centre in Bude.
Abby
Crosby lead the day and described how the MSN operates then showed
and described to us the typical species that are washed up on the
Cornish beaches.
We
then went through the recording process for the two most common
strandings; Seals and Cetaceans. This was followed by a gruesome
film showing what the volunteer veterinary surgeon has to deal with
when a stranding is sufficiently fresh to be worthy of a post mortem
examination. Thankfully this was after we had eaten lunch, not
before!
The
rest of the day was taken up with simulated recording exercises
outside in the sun. First we practised on a blow-up dolphin then a
seal.
 |
| .."placed under the waterfall" |
After
three long months the call came on Thursday afternoon that a dolphin
had been washed up on nearby Sandymouth beach. The coordinator told
me where it could be found and that it had been moved above the High
Water mark as the tide was within an hour of High Tide. I also had
to describe what I would be wearing in case of accidents so that the
Coast Guard would know what to look for and agreed to phone in to
confirm that I had found the stranding and successfully left the
beach.
As
agreed with my local colleagues on the training day, I phone Duncan
who wanted to help. My kit had been packed for three months, but I
still needed to go through my check list before driving the mile or
so to Sandymouth.
The
carcase was immediately visible when I arrived at the beach.
Unfortunately the considerate people that had reported it have moved
it almost directly under a waterfall. The strong onshore wind was
blowing the stream of water regularly over the corpse drenching it
and anyone who approached it.
Duncan
and I moved it to where we could photograph and record and tag it as
Number 7400. A concentrated 45 minutes followed while we went
through the procedure we had been taught. Duncan had already
recorded a couple of seals so his expertise was most useful. We were
battered by the wind and covered copiously in the blowing spume.
 |
| Common Dolphin - Stranding 7400 |
My
first stranding was a beautiful Common Dolphin. It had lost one eye
and suffered a broken jaw, but on the post mortem can explain why it
died. It was a privilege to see one of these magnificent animals at
such close quarters, to touch its skin and gaze into its eye. It is
such a pity it had to die so that I could have that experience.t
