This incredible video shows the moment a dolphin was released back into the sea – after being rescued in the back of a car.
The adult male common dolphin got stranded in shallow waters after swimming into a harbour.
A team of volunteers from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue – headed by Dan Jarvis – were sent try and rescue him.
Dan, 32, said they couldn’t release the dolphin where he had got stuck at Mylor Bridge, Cornwall, so bundled it into the back of his car and drove to nearby Falmouth.
He then joined a team of volunteers to carry the dolphin on an air bed to the edge of the water before releasing him back into the sea.
Dan, welfare development and field support officer for the charity, said: “We were called at around 8am today about a dolphin at Mylor Bridge.
“It was in the shallows and kept getting stuck.
“We got a team of volunteer medics out on the scene to assess what was going on.
“When we arrived the dolphin was in the shallows so we took it out of the water on a tarpaulin and sat it on the embankment so we could do an assessment.
“It was a common dolphin, 2.2m long, male, and just had some superficial injuries.
“He appeared to be in relatively good spirits.
“We also had a vet come out to assess it and when we had done our assessment we got the all clear from the vet to release it again.”
Dan said they then transported the dolphin to a place where it could be released safely.
He added: “We took it in a car over to Gyllyngvase beach.
“They don’t normally come up into enclosed spaces, they get disorientated easily, that’s most likely why it ended up there.
“Gyllyngvase faces straight out to the deep water and there are large groups that go there so releasing him there was the best chance of him getting back with a group.
“He was on an inflatable mattress when he was in the car, to make it more comfortable for him.
“On the big corners it started to react a little bit, it was probably just glad to get back into the sea at the end of it.
“When we arrived at the beach we spent a while stabilising it while the team got ready with wetsuits then we released it.
“It was slow going to begin with while it made past the surf but then it was gone.
“It looked to be going out well.”
