One day, Rich Wilcox decided to go to Criccieth Beach in Wales with his dog, Leia. Leila happily explored the beach, sniffing at the sand and playing in the waves, as Rich took photos and tried to go fishing.
However, their pleasant day out took a surprising turn when Leia started barking loudly to get Rich’s attention.
“I was stood taking pictures and videos of the scenery when Leia started to make a right old fuss … She kept coming up to me, barking and nudging me …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,” Rich Wilcox explained.
Leia had found a baby dolphin that was stranded and stuck in the shallows.
Leia knew her dad could help the dolphin and she did whatever she could to get his attention.
Rich and Leia were the only ones on the beach for miles in both directions. Rich quickly realized he was the only person that could help the baby dolphin get back into the ocean waters. Leia must have realized this too, which is why she barked so dramatically to get her dad’s attention.
Rich, as gently as he could, lifted the baby dolphin from under its belly and guided the dolphin back into the deeper water.
It took Rich a few tries to get the dolphin swimming safely, but once the dolphin realized it could swim away it did just that. You can see the baby dolphin’s tail excitedly swimming, in and out of the water, to reach safety.
Rich and Leia were not going to leave the baby dolphin’s safety up to fate.
“I combed the beach for a while afterwards and stayed for an hour or so to make sure he made it back out to sea,” Rich Wilcox stated.
Rich also called the Coast Guard to inform them of the little guy.
They, in response, told the nearby science team of the situation too. The Seawatch Foundation assured Rich, Leia, and the public,
“With the strong winds we are getting at the moment it is quite possible he just got blown out of the way and stranded rather than having anything seriously wrong with him, so let’s hope he made it back out to sea safely.”
Rich might have been the person to physically help the dolphin swim away to safety but Rich knows that the true hero of the day was Leia. Rich would have missed the baby dolphin’s dire situation if Leia did not bark and guide him towards the dolphin.
Leia saved the dolphin’s life by involving her dad. Rich and Leia wanted to personalize the dolphin since Leia was so protective over it.
So, Rich and Leia named the dolphin Buddy. Leia, with the help of her human dad, saved Buddy the dolphin’s life. Let’s hope that Buddy was reunited with his family quickly because life is better and safer with family around.
Rich and Leia did an incredible job saving this dolphin, and we’re so glad Leia alerted her dad to the dolphin’s presence.
Check out the video of the rescue below!
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