BDMLR - Marine Life Rescue

Besides finding my future career whilst at WhaleFest in October 2011, I also met BDMLR (British Divers Marine Life Rescue).  British Divers Marine Life Rescue is an organisation run by volunteers dedicated to the rescue and well being of all marine animals in distress around the UK

Bristol Docks...not the place for a whale

They run 1 day training courses across the UK, the aim of which is to teach members of the public what to do and how to respond when they find a marine mammal in distress. Whilst it is an unlikely event that there would be a whale stranding near where I live in Bristol and that the possibility of a stranding whilst I'm in Mexico is also rare, I felt that as someone concerned about conservation and marine animal welfare that this would be a good string for my bow.

So on an almost sunny weekend in May, I travelled to Plymouth to attend the course. The day didn't go off to a good start when my so called SatNav took me down the narrowest of country lanes which ended when it narrowed to a cycle path in the middle of some trees. As I was on the cusp of being late, I abandoned the technology and relied on the street signs which directed me to Fort Bovisand and Discovery Divers where the training was taking place.

Having arrived in the nick of time and once everyone was settled with cups of tea our trainers began the day with lessons in basic physiology of cetaceans (whales and dolphins) and seals, rescue techniques and basic first aid.

After lunch the practical exercises began! I had borrowed a rather stylish dry suit from my local dive club (see picture - I'm the one with the pink stripe) so having struggled to get my head through the latex seal on the neck and been zipped in we all made our way down the slipway to practice rescuing creatures.

pretty classy!

My first exercise was how to catch a baby seal. We were taught how to sneak up on an unsuspecting seal with a blanket and to jump on its back neatly behind the flippers and clamp the blanket around the mouth to avoid getting bitten. Fortunately our inflatable model was very obliging and we all managed to jump the seal and manoeuvre it successfully into a cage.

Having saved our stranded seal we moved on to rescuing a dolphin.  By the time we had started the exercises the tide was on its way in and we were having to compete with waves pulling at us and a life sized- fully inflated with water- model of a dolphin caught in the incoming surf. Once again with much cheer we managed to save our dolphin. Now came the ultimate challenge - rescuing a stranded pilot whale.

carrying a model dolphin through the water for release

a very sad whale

don't worry - we'll rescue you! check out the whale rolling action

To be able to move a whale you need a special tarpaulin which is attached to two inflatable pontoons. I want to point out now that a 2 tonne model whale is VERY difficult to manoeuvre. Essentially you have to carefully roll the whale on its side, being careful not to bend a fin the wrong way or to dunk its blow hole under the water and tuck the tarpaulin as far as possible, before rolling the whale the other way to pull the tarpaulin out so it is completely underneath it. Once attached the pontoons were inflated and we managed to bring the whale out down the slipway and released it in to the open bay!


Flushed with our success at the end of the day I agreed to go along to a mass stranding exercise run on Exmouth beach the next day. The aim of the day was a real time scenario where there were multiple strandings along a beach and we had to care for the animals from low tide (time of stranding) until the high tide came back in. As an added bonus, the day was going to be filmed by the BBC's 'Coast'.

Arriving on Exmouth beach in the morning we were introduced to the film crew and briefed on the day and what would be happening.
Soon after we went on to the beach and saw our first situation - 6 dolphins stranded at high tide. Having split in to teams for each animal we assessed the situation and obvious health/injuries of the animal, built a make shift shelter using a towel over head and proceeded to take it in turns to trek back and forth to the retreating sea to collect buckets of water to pour carefully over the dolphins back to stop it from overheating (avoiding the blowhole which is essentially a marine mammals nose - so pouring water down it is similar to water boarding.... highly unpleasant and dangerous for the animal).

Having cared for my dolphin for about 30 minutes I was pulled away as they had 'discovered' 4 pilot whales stuck in the sand. First task was to right the rather sad looking whales which were practically on their sides so that their blow holes weren't under water. As I approached the whales overcame the film crew - this was my moment to shine! Unfortunately, my whale was stuck in a mixture of sand and muscle beds, so my crowning TV moment was me sinking further and further in to the sand as I pushed with all my might to get the whale upright.....

Once the crew had moved on and more people arrived, our whales were set aright and we proceeded to monitor their breaths per minute, keeping them shaded from direct sunlight and keeping them damp.

A few hours later the tide turned and started to come back in. It was at this point the scenarios began to get more interesting. One of my whales wasn't doing very well. One of the vets (an actual vet is present for marine strandings to assist in any way with the actual medical side) came over to us and informed us that our whale was becoming more and more distressed and that it had various injuries. Over the course of the next hour it became clear that my whale was not going to make it and he sadly died.

It may seem odd but I was actually quite distressed at this having spent 4 hours in beside this whale reassuring it, keeping it cool and guarded only for it not to make it. But there was no time to think about that as we still had to help 'save' the 3 other whales.

Thankfully all the others and most of the dolphins were successfully re-floated and sent back out to sea.


I would THOROUGHLY recommend to anyone who lives by the sea, or in general would be interested in marine mammal rescue to take part in the one day course run by BDMLR.

Their website can be found here

nb - all photos on this page are courtesy and copyright of BDMLR (other than bristol docks - I borrowed that from google)

In the beginning

I dislike flakes.

In this instance I am not referring to the delightfully crumbly flaky chocolate bar from Cadbury’s, but that person who promises to do something but never follows through. Sometimes it’s due to an unavoidable situation, sometimes people just can’t be bothered and can let you down. I would find myself missing out on things because I couldn't find someone to go with me and I was not brave enough to go on my own.

(no more flaky behaviour!)

When I turned 25 last year, I came to the decision this was my time. Flaky behaviour had stopped me doing things, but no more! The year I turned 25 would be the year of ‘me’. If people didn’t want to come with me or pulled out at the last minute, so what – I’d go on my own. 







I have crossed many items off my somewhat daring (for me) list, I have;
been to the theater on my own (It was the Syndicate starring Sir Ian Mckellen)
gone to a restaurant and dined solo
attended wildlife expo's and conferences
had a day trip to the beach, played arcade games on the pier and built a sandcastle
joined a diving club and went on a diving weekend with people I'd never met before
lost 3 stone - a personal victory as I would never go to the gym on my own
eaten a tub of ben and jerries in one sitting ( okay that one is maybe not one of my proudest achievements, but I'd normally be forced to at least share a spoonful..and yes I'm still surprised I managed to lose weight too!)

These may seem insignificant or trivial to some, but previously I would have said ‘oh well never mind’ and not gone. I have enjoyed every moment of it. This is not to say that I would not have enjoyed going with friends, but I have had a new sense of liberty. To paraphrase the words of Destiny's Child - I AM an Independent Woman!

Towards the end of the year I attended a fantastic conference ‘Whalefest’ in Brighton. The trip started off on a bad note as I was getting a lift with my parents when my dad accidentally put petrol in the diesel engine (it happens...) so a few hours later, we are towed back to their house. I then had the decision of carrying on on my own (I’d already have missed the first day), or just giving up and stay home...so I packed up my own car and drove off.

Whilst wondering around in a mildly bewildered fashion through the aisles of stands I was accosted by an enthusiastic member of GVI with the line ' Hello - you look lost, would you like me to talk at you for a while?'.  Some 45 minutes later and having discussed the pros and cons of scuba diving in various places around the world and about my passion for marine conservation  they had given me information about their 6 month divemaster and conservation internship.

As I drove home that night I found myself seriously considering applying for the programme. It was pretty daring for me, I had not long started a new job and I had a settled life in Bristol living in a comfortable flat with my friend and I was content - almost - but not fully.  Since before I can remember (according to my parents) I have loved being in the water and being by the sea. And here I was, being offered the chance to apply for what literally would be my dream job. But was I ready?

I spoke to my family briefly about it and had their full support on whatever I decided to do, at the very least I could always apply and see if I could get a place. Unbeknownst to them, I had already submitted my application. A day or two later I received a phone call from GVI stating they had received my application, I had a phone interview with them and shortly after was offered a place on the programme.

And so I now find myself with 3 months to go, preparing to leave my friends and family to embark on what will be a life changing adventure.