Locals save porpoise on beach in Kilkeel

Helping save a stranded porpoise isn't one of the normal duties for a caravan park owner.

But that's exactly what Kilkeel man John McKibbin did on Friday night.

Mr McKibbin, from Leestone Caravan Park in County Down, was "sitting in the house with my feet up" when he got the call from some residents "for a bit of help" about a young harbour porpoise that was stranded on a nearby beach.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said they understand people want to help, but "always recommend they call our 24/7 rescue hotline in order for us to dispatch specialist Marine Mammal Medics".

"I got a phone call to say the porpoise was on the beach, and there was a crowd in the caravan site getting together to see if they could do something for it," he said.

There are two beach areas near the caravan site, so Mr McKibbin had difficulty finding the porpoise at first.

"Our caravan site is on a corner of the coast and we went to the front beach but couldn't see it.

"Then we went to the back beach and saw Jason …trying to put it into the water."

When he arrived, a resident, Jason Hughes "was in the water with it".

Mr McKibbin said he saw Jason "push the porpoise into the sea".

"It was hitting into rocks and it obviously didn't have a clear path to get free," he said.

"I arrived down and said to Jason we need to lift it and put it into deep water."

"Jason took his coat off and we put the coat underneath the porpoise, so we just used his coat as a sling to carry it and then we carried it across the beach about 50 ft and then we put it into the water and away it went."

Once Mr McKibbin and Mr Hughes picked the porpoise up with the aid of a jacket, "it was pretty easy".

He said they thought of using the jacket because "you don't want to put too much pressure on its organs when lifting it up, so thought that the coat would spread the weight over its body.

"We just put the coat underneath it, and it was flapping its tail about, you could see it was a bit distressed," he said.

"Whenever we put the porpoise into the water, you could see it swimming away, and it was just coming on the edge of dark, but you could see it swimming on out to sea."

Mr McKibbin said when the two men picked the porpoise up, "it actually was sort of relaxed".

"It only just flapped its tail when we put it into the water.

"He swam away, and we watched him until he disappeared under the water completely.

"It wasn't injured; it swam away on out."

Mr McKibbin said it felt "brilliant" to have rescued the young porpoise.

"It definitely would have died, because it couldn't get out into the deep water."

Rescuing a porpoise was a first for Mr McKibbin, who said: "It's usually people we save on the beach".

"Hopefully, it'll go out and find the rest of its pod and live happily ever after."

British Divers Marine Life Rescue offer advice about what to do if you find a stranded whale, dolphin or porpoise.

In a statement to BBC News NI, BDML said: "Proper health checks are necessary" to determine if a cetacean is "in poor condition or has an underlying problem" and the BDML "dispatch specialist Marine Mammal Medics to respond appropriately to the animal, acting on their best welfare interests".