This is the moment a quick-thinking dog saves the live of poor marine mammal found in desperate need of help. The heroic dog – a springer spaniel, named Leia – spotted the baby porpoise stranded on shore, and started to bark, leading his owner to it. The man has eventually managed to rescue the helpless creature.
Rich Wilcock, a photography enthusiast, was walking with his 2-year-old dog along the shoreline near Criccieth, Wales, when all of a sudden, Leia was barking uncontrollable just like she was trying to drag her dad’s attention. Following his dog, Rich was surprised to came upon a beached marine creature.
“I was photographing the beautiful scenery when Leia started to make a right old fuss,” the man told Daily Post. “She kept coming up to me, barking and nudging me, she must have smelt the dolphin from a mile off. At first I thought it was a baby shark, it was only about one and half foot but on a closer inspection I could see the blow hole on top of his head and realized it was a dolphin.”
Though Rich eventually identified the sea mammal as a dolphin, marine official at the Seawatch Foundation said it is more probably to actually be a baby porpoise. Porpoise are marine mammals that look pretty similar to dolphins, but they are actually closely related to belugas and narwhals.
Anyway, most importantly is that Rich managed to save the little one’s life, as he guided it back to deep waters. Then, he and Leia stayed on that beach for at least one hour more, just to make sure the baby porpoise is safe.
“There was nobody around for miles so I did what I could as gently as possible,” Rick said. “I lifted him gently under the belly and popped him back amongst the waves and he swam away into deeper water.”
The man also mentioned his dog got some extra treats when they returned back home, since she should be credited (entirely) for the rescue. “She is a very intelligent dog, more intelligent than most,” Rich also said.
Watch the rescue here:
