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On the night of Sunday July 13, the marine wildlife rescue association Equinac responded to an urgent alert about a stranded dolphin on the beach of Roquetas de Mar, Almería.

 

The adult male common dolphin had stranded itself three times, prompting concern from local authorities and the head of the local aquarium, who passed on the information to Equinac via the Local Police force.

 

According to the organisation, the dolphin was nearly two metres long, showed signs of respiratory failure and had sustained head injuries. The situation was described as ‘critical’.

 

With no immediate response from the relevant authorities, who, it was understood, intended to send a veterinarian from another province, Equinac made the decision to intervene.

 

“To avoid prolonging the animal’s agony, and as we are still attending strandings in Almería in 2025, we took the action ourselves,” Equinac said in a statement. The organisation’s veterinarian, Emilio Guil, and two experienced members of the stranding network assessed the dolphin and decided to euthanise it humanely on the beach.

 

Equinac reiterated its long-standing advice that stranded cetaceans should not be reintroduced to the sea. “When these animals beach, it is because they are sick and unable to follow their group. They are mammals and need to breathe air. Reintroducing a stranded dolphin is like pushing a drowning person back into the sea after they’ve managed to reach the shore,” the group explained.

 

The association expressed its gratitude to the Roquetas de Mar aquarium, local police and members of the public who helped to keep the dolphin wet and protected while awaiting the rescue team.

 

“Their efforts were vital in ensuring the animal did not drown in even worse conditions,” they said.

 

However, Equinac also condemned the lack of 24-hour emergency resources available in Almería province for responding to marine life strandings.

 

“Because the administration still does not have round-the-clock resources, it was not possible to collect the body and transfer it for a necropsy,” the statement concluded.

 

Image: Equinac