'They were in a state of distress when we got there and were breathing quite heavily'
Two 'very lucky' young dolphins are safely back in the Irish Sea following the epic efforts of a band of good Samaritans, including Sean McMahon and his Mary Wallopers pal Andrew Hendy.
Sean said: "It was lucky that we picked that spot. Myself and Andrew Hendy of the Mary Wallopers fame were about to head off. We just had the boards pumped up. A lady came up to us and said we looked like we knew stuff about the sea and would we be able to help. They had spotted what she thought were baby whales further up the beach.
The advice that followed from IWDG live stranding coordinator Gemma O'Connor was to keep the dolphins calm by talking to them and "keep as many people away as you can and anyone with dogs in the area". "Because of the delicacy of the fins underneath, the lady from IWDG said not to attempt to try and lift them so we had to dig little pockets underneath the fins.
Sean added: "One dolphin was quite a bit smaller but with the larger one we were having to stop every few seconds or so to rest ourselves because there was some weight in it, even between the six of us. "I just said 'make sure nobody drags them by the tail or by the fins'. I said to keep them calm because they can get upset with shock.
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