Wow what a long day it was yesterday. I was lucky enough to take a course with the BDMLR (British Divers Marine Life Rescue) and am proud to announce that I am now a trained marine mammal medic. The BDMLR is a nationally and internationally recognised organisation and its volunteers are equiped with the skills to respond to marine mammal strandings, from individual seals or cetaceans to mass strandings and even respond to a widespread disease outbreak.

I now know how to assist in the rescue of marine mammals, take charge of and direct a group of volunteers in first aid, and can assist in the refloat of a whale or dolphin using a special inflatable pontoon system. The day consisted of 3 hours worth of lectures on how we were to go about rescuing stranded marine mammals and then I spent the afternoon practicing my newly learnt techniques on life sized and weight models of a seal, common dolphin and a pilot whale.

I was rewarded a qualifying certificate, cool badges for my car and drysuit, a handbook and species ID book, and my very own photo identity card! Hopefully I will get called out to any strandings in my local area, but this is just the begining! Next year I'll get the chance to work in a seal sanctuary, learning how to tube feed and practice handling seal pups and get my small crafts boating licence under my belt too. Can't wait!

If anyone would like to know more about the BDMLR and how you can get involved in your area check out their website [link]
Our group practicing on a common dolphin replica --> [link]

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