Irish Coast Guard Rescues Porpoise

The Irish Coast Guard were requested to assist the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) with a stranded baby porpoise on Portmarnock beach in Dublin. A Coast Guard team from Howth station travelled by boat and jeep to the location and meet with the IWDG representative. Porpoises are very similar to dolphins but have shorter beaks and are seen in the Irish Sea with the same swimming patterns as dolphins. The decision was made to bring the baby mammal who was beached back to the sea in the hope it would successfully swim away. The boat team lead by coxswain Jaimie Blandford carefully placed the mammal on board and brought it a kilometre out into the open water. The porpoise now named Fungie Beag was placed in the water, after some initial hesitation it successfully returned to the water and swam back into the Irish Sea, hopefully returning to its family.