On the 3rd November 2007 I attended a Marine Mammal Medics course at Bewl Water Kent, which is the largest stretch of open water in the South East.
The course is run by the British Divers Marine Life Rescue charity which is more commonly known as the BDMLR.
BDMLR
The charity itself came into life in around 1988 but had managed to stay largely out of the public eye until the Bottlenose whale had become stranded in the Thames and whilst this rescue had been unsuccessful it raised their profile hugely.
However, this is not to say they weren’t respected both nationally and internationally before the Thames incident and have been involved in many high profile cases including the rehoming and eventual release of the Dolphins who had been in residence at Flamingo Land, Yorkshire and the Dolphinarium in Brighton.
Indeed this work goes on and whilst the course, calls were being received from somewhere in Africa asking for advice on a Stranded Dolphin release.
The course is geared towards anyone who is interested and despite the name of the organisation you do not need to be a diver, but you do need to have a dry or wet suit and a desire or at least motivation to stand in waist deep sea water. Remember we don’t live in the Caribbean so it’s going to be chilly at best!
Rousing myself at seven on a Saturday hadn’t factored in to the decision making process when I’d booked the course but now was the moment in hand and with the on set of a cold making itself known to my throat I have to say the prospect of standing waist high in water for much of the day was starting to feel a little less appealing.
So up and showered it was time to start the hour and half drive to Bewl Water in Kent for the 9.30 arrival/ 10 start.
Arriving early I had an opportunity to have a look around and I have to say that the reservoir is very impressive. Having taken advantage of a natural valley, a huge expanse of water has been made.
The walk around it is about 13 miles, but there are also cycle paths, fishing, sailing canoeing and I also believe diving is available. The divers enjoy diving some of the houses that were flooded when the reservoir was created. So certainly worth a visit if in the area!
As the candidates arrived there was a real mixed bag of people. Couples, vets, divers, hippies and even a rock star. Don't ask me who, I wouldn't tell, partly coz I'm not sure who it is and partly coz they are allowed a day off.
The course was split in to two parts of theory and practical. The morning session or theory was then further split into three lectures.
The lectures were introduced by Trevor Weeks, the National Coordinator. This guy is amazing in that he has submerged himself in the life of animal welfare fully, also running an animal ambulance for the WRAS Wildlife rescue organisation.
The lectures covered Cetacean Biology, that’s whales, dolphins and porpoise’s to you and I. Seal Biology, identification, scene management, rescue management, animal first aid and health and safety.
The lectures were very informative, providing a lot of detail whilst being directed to the layman but still meeting the needs of those qualified types.
After lunch was the fun time! Time to change into our dry suits for the practical.
The Charity uses some of the latest advances in marine mammal rescue, including inflatable pontoons originally designed in New Zealand.
They also have some fantastic training aids which include life size seal pups, a Bottle nosed dolphin and Pilot whale.
These aids are water filled life size models which match the real thing in size and weight. Using these models we proceeded to learn how the actual procedures relating to the management of a scene, what steps need to be taken to ensure the animals welfare during a rescue and finally how the animals are captured, and in the case of the whale and dolphin how they are released.
Remember a pilot whale can weigh up to 2 ton so this is easier said than done.
Once the day had concluded we were awarded with a certificate, ID card, identification book, rescue manual and some documents/ logs which need to be completed at the scene of a rescue. Our details will now be put on a national database and I am officially now on call.
In my opinion this course is well worth the £60.00 cover cost. The course is professionally structured, and the senior medics supervise you very closely driving home that your safety is paramount at all times.
Personally, my only concern was that they would be a bunch of bleeding hearts more concerned about the image of dolphins than the actual animal, but this was unjust. These guys are all about the animal and totally realistic about the situation, if the animal is suffering they will address this properly. Vets are always on hand particularly for the big rescues and they make sure that we are aware that release is not always an issue.
My only criticism is that there is to much for a day course and a weekender would be better. But this has to be off set with appeal the general public I guess and maybe a weekender in November is just to expensive.
When talking with a Senior medic it was made clear that when attending a rescue, mainly Seals in my area, then as a newbie you generally are just watching adding to the learning experience, so ther eis no deep end stuff.
If you are interested in ocean life and fancy giving something like this a try I would strongly recommend it. You are not obliged to attend rescues so any future commitment you provide is at your discretion.
Find out more here http://www.bdmlr.org.uk
Here’s some pic’s.
A rescue under way!
They can bite you know!
Is that a pilot whale or are you just please to see me!
The course is run by the British Divers Marine Life Rescue charity which is more commonly known as the BDMLR.
BDMLR
The charity itself came into life in around 1988 but had managed to stay largely out of the public eye until the Bottlenose whale had become stranded in the Thames and whilst this rescue had been unsuccessful it raised their profile hugely.
However, this is not to say they weren’t respected both nationally and internationally before the Thames incident and have been involved in many high profile cases including the rehoming and eventual release of the Dolphins who had been in residence at Flamingo Land, Yorkshire and the Dolphinarium in Brighton.
Indeed this work goes on and whilst the course, calls were being received from somewhere in Africa asking for advice on a Stranded Dolphin release.
The course is geared towards anyone who is interested and despite the name of the organisation you do not need to be a diver, but you do need to have a dry or wet suit and a desire or at least motivation to stand in waist deep sea water. Remember we don’t live in the Caribbean so it’s going to be chilly at best!
Rousing myself at seven on a Saturday hadn’t factored in to the decision making process when I’d booked the course but now was the moment in hand and with the on set of a cold making itself known to my throat I have to say the prospect of standing waist high in water for much of the day was starting to feel a little less appealing.
So up and showered it was time to start the hour and half drive to Bewl Water in Kent for the 9.30 arrival/ 10 start.
Arriving early I had an opportunity to have a look around and I have to say that the reservoir is very impressive. Having taken advantage of a natural valley, a huge expanse of water has been made.
The walk around it is about 13 miles, but there are also cycle paths, fishing, sailing canoeing and I also believe diving is available. The divers enjoy diving some of the houses that were flooded when the reservoir was created. So certainly worth a visit if in the area!
As the candidates arrived there was a real mixed bag of people. Couples, vets, divers, hippies and even a rock star. Don't ask me who, I wouldn't tell, partly coz I'm not sure who it is and partly coz they are allowed a day off.
The course was split in to two parts of theory and practical. The morning session or theory was then further split into three lectures.
The lectures were introduced by Trevor Weeks, the National Coordinator. This guy is amazing in that he has submerged himself in the life of animal welfare fully, also running an animal ambulance for the WRAS Wildlife rescue organisation.
The lectures covered Cetacean Biology, that’s whales, dolphins and porpoise’s to you and I. Seal Biology, identification, scene management, rescue management, animal first aid and health and safety.
The lectures were very informative, providing a lot of detail whilst being directed to the layman but still meeting the needs of those qualified types.
After lunch was the fun time! Time to change into our dry suits for the practical.
The Charity uses some of the latest advances in marine mammal rescue, including inflatable pontoons originally designed in New Zealand.
They also have some fantastic training aids which include life size seal pups, a Bottle nosed dolphin and Pilot whale.
These aids are water filled life size models which match the real thing in size and weight. Using these models we proceeded to learn how the actual procedures relating to the management of a scene, what steps need to be taken to ensure the animals welfare during a rescue and finally how the animals are captured, and in the case of the whale and dolphin how they are released.
Remember a pilot whale can weigh up to 2 ton so this is easier said than done.
Once the day had concluded we were awarded with a certificate, ID card, identification book, rescue manual and some documents/ logs which need to be completed at the scene of a rescue. Our details will now be put on a national database and I am officially now on call.
In my opinion this course is well worth the £60.00 cover cost. The course is professionally structured, and the senior medics supervise you very closely driving home that your safety is paramount at all times.
Personally, my only concern was that they would be a bunch of bleeding hearts more concerned about the image of dolphins than the actual animal, but this was unjust. These guys are all about the animal and totally realistic about the situation, if the animal is suffering they will address this properly. Vets are always on hand particularly for the big rescues and they make sure that we are aware that release is not always an issue.
My only criticism is that there is to much for a day course and a weekender would be better. But this has to be off set with appeal the general public I guess and maybe a weekender in November is just to expensive.
When talking with a Senior medic it was made clear that when attending a rescue, mainly Seals in my area, then as a newbie you generally are just watching adding to the learning experience, so ther eis no deep end stuff.
If you are interested in ocean life and fancy giving something like this a try I would strongly recommend it. You are not obliged to attend rescues so any future commitment you provide is at your discretion.
Find out more here http://www.bdmlr.org.uk
Here’s some pic’s.
