Young Keppel Bay Sailors to the rescue - of a baby dolphin

1:41 AM Mon 1 Jun 2009 GMT

'Young heroes after the rescue - photo by the Morning Bulletin' .

Three young sailors from Keppel Bay Sailing Club near Rockhampton were being called heroes yesterday for saving the life of a baby dolphin.

Sarah Lawrence, Brent Pearson and Brendan Effeney went to help the dolphin that was caught on a shark buoy not far off shore.

It was spotted off Keppel Bay Sailing Club in Yeppoon around 1pm yesterday.

The trio didn't know what to expect as they were heading out to its rescue, armed with just a knife, a hacksaw and their advanced sailing skills.

Brendan, at 18 the youngest of the crew, said they were just hoping for a good outcome.

"I was hoping it wasn't actually hooked, just tangled" Brendan said.

"I just didn't want to see it die," Brent added.

And luck was on their side. Sarah said the chain from the buoy had wrapped around the dolphin's body once, the right-side fin and then the dorsal fin.

"A rope was also wrapped around its body," Sarah said.

She said when they managed to catch the dolphin and pull it close to the boat she tried to release the rope but realised it was too tangled. Once they were able to cut the rope, the dolphin could roll a bit and they were then able to unwrap the chain.

They also had to contend with the concerned mother of the dolphin which was swimming nearby. The team was glad to see the dolphin swimming off with its mum with little more than a scratch. Sarah said it all happened in less than half an hour, but the emotions would stay with them a lot longer.

"It feels good to be able to say you've done something nice," she said.

"We've done our good deed for the day."

A staff member of the Keppel Bay Sailing Club, 'Butto', said he was having lunch on the deck when he first saw splashing in the water. When he spotted a fin he realised it was a dolphin but knew it was in trouble as he could also see the buoy moving.

"I realised it was stuck,"'Butto said.

He went down and alerted the three sailors, who had just finished teaching a learn-to-sail course with students from St Brendan's College. Butto said the three had all been involved with the club since they were very young, and he was proud of what they did.

"It was just wonderful to be able to do that - to save a dolphin," he said.

"They are heroes to me."

Other spectators also came forward to greet the trio on their return, also calling them heroes for their efforts.

Sail-World Cruising thanks Rockhampton's Morning Bulletinfor this story

by Sharyn O'Neill, The Morning Bulletin