Stranded South Gare dolphin rescued and returned to sea

The adult male common dolphin was said to be in good health

A stranded dolphin has been rescued and returned to the North Sea near Redcar.

The adult male common dolphin was discovered by a beach walker at South Gare at about 09:00 GMT on Monday, British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said.

Rescue coordinator Molly Gray said volunteers from the group found it to be in good health and breathing well.

The animal was put on to a tarpaulin and carried back out to sea where it "swam off strongly", she added.

The rescue took between three and four hours

Ms Gray said it was a successful rescue operation assisted by the Coastguard which lasted between three and four hours.

"He needed a little time to readjust to being back in the water as when a dolphin is stranded on land the effects of gravity can be quite significant," she said.

"But once he was happy he swam off strongly and no-one has seen him since. Hopefully we won't see him again."

The BDLMR, based in Uckfield, East Sussex, was called out 3,000 times in 2021 but the vast majority of operations involved seals with whales and dolphins rarer.

The dolphin was carried out to sea on a tarpaulin

Ms Gray said the dolphin rescue was the first in the Redcar area for the organisation's volunteers, of which there are about 3,000 around the country.

She said a dolphin can survive out of water for up to 12 hours although that is "not ideal", the aim being to get them back in the sea as quickly as possible.