A beach in Wales in 2015: Criccieth lies just north of the Porthmadog estuary, and (on a clear day) commands stunning views of Cardigan Bay and the mountains of Snowdonia and Mid Wales.
It was here that fisherman Rich Wilcock decided he would walk his dog Leia.
Barking and nudging
As Mr Wilcock strolled along the shoreline his 2-year-old Springer Spaniel bounced over to the edge of the water and heralded him with a bark.
Wilcock marched over to an object lying motionless on the pebbles. He described seeing a ‘baby dolphin’ on its belly, and seemingly in distress.
Talking later to the Daily Post, Wilcock said, “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, she must have smelt the dolphin from a mile off.
“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.”
Determination and resilience
Without a phone signal to muster a rescue bid, Wilcock took it upon himself to begin the task of returning the dolphin – later identified as a porpoise pup – to the waiting arms of the sea.
Wilcock’s determination to save the pup was all that was required. After one or two false starts, the pup swam away. Wilcock later praised his loyal Leia for finding the stranded porpoise.
Watch the rescue of the porpoise here:
