Attempted dolphin rescue at Mesa Lane Beach caught on camera

A baby dolphin washed up on the beach at Mesa Lane Thursday and a Santa Barbara man sprang into action to try and save the animal’s life.

Julian Nafal’s daily routine down the Mesa Lane steps, took a harrowing turn Thursday.

“We realized, we saw that it was still breathing but it was faint, it was barely moving,” said Nafal.

As Nafal and an associate walked along the beach, they found a baby dolphin stranded.

“We took it upon ourselves and just instinctively brought it to the water, started massaging and you could hear the sound it made, it was like crying out, you could hear it saying please help me,” said Nafal.

The dramatic rescue was all caught on camera.

“It definitely appeared to need some kind of help,” said Nafal.

Rescuers with the Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institution were called out immediately. Despite Nafal’s best efforts, vets who treated the dolphin say the marine mammal didn’t make it.

“There’s really no good situation, I know the public wants to help and try and push them back out or try to re-float them but if they’re on the beach, they are there for reason,” said Michelle Berman, Director, CICU.

Experts say this species of dolphin, the Common Dolphin, comes to shore to die and this specific animal was emaciated and had been sick for a long time.

Dr. Sam Dover, the veterinarian that attended to the Mesa Lane dolphin tells News Channel 3 that an animal autopsy was performed. Dr. Dover says the dolphin was three to six months old and was very skinny, likely dealing with starvation and suffering from pneumonia.

“I’ve been here about 20 years and to my knowledge, no dolphins have really made it much past getting off the beach,” said Berman.

While Nafal did the right thing by alerting rescuers, vets say its best to keep the area clear of pets and people until they can arrive on scene. Both Dover and Berman suggest keeping the animal calm and stress the importance of not putting it back in the water.