Dee Dolphin not as happy as we thought

Having hailed the health of the Dee ecosystem in a post yesterday, we now hear from the RNLI that they have had to rescue the Dee Dolphin because it became stranded on a sandbank. Apparently the Dolphin had become disoriented and confused, and really shouldn't have been so far inland after all.

The Dolphin was taken three miles off the coast of Rhyl to be released.

Alan Forrester, lifeboat operations manager with Flint RNLI, told Radio Wales the rescue boat was launched at Connah's Quay after the dolphin was seen "floundering" on a sandbank.

It was hoisted onto the lifeboat and carried down the river towards open water.

An animal welfare officer was also onboard.

"We've got what we call an ambulance pouch, which is a rolled up stretcher," Mr Forrester added.

"They laid that on the sandbank and rolled the dolphin into the stretcher and lifted it into the lifeboat.

"It's rather a large dolphin. It's lying there nicely, they've got buckets of water to keep it cool - everything seems to be ok at the moment."

The mammal was originally spotted by the public on Monday in Connah's Quay docks and became stranded briefly on Tuesday after turning to make its way to Flint and towards the sea.

Liverpool coastguard wanted to hold off a rescue attempt for as long as possible to avoid coming into physical contact with the mammal in case it is rejected back at sea.

A coastguard team was earlier deployed to the area to try to ensure the safety of spectators trying to catch a glimpse of the dolphin.

It is thought the dolphin swam up the river during the high spring tide.

It is rare for dolphins to be seen in the River Dee but a pair of porpoises were reported near Queensferry Bridge eight years ago.