The group carried and released all the dolphins safely back into the sea after they were stranded on Kolam beach near Virar during low tide, averting what could have been a wildlife tragedy
Fireman Abhishekh Gavankar (23) is a good swimmer and was confident he could safely return the dolphins to the water
When 10 Striped dolphins got stranded at Kolam beach, plenty of people stood and stared, but no one was willing to step into the notoriously strong currents to help the creatures. It was a local fireman and his friends who braved the rough waters to rescue the marine mammals, putting a happy spin on what could have turned out to be a wildlife tragedy.
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Ayaz Shaikh, Rahul Bhosle and Krishna Rane, lift a dolphin and send it back into the sea. Pics/Hanif Patel
Neither burning buildings nor rough seas seem to scare fireman Abhishekh Gavankar (23), who works for the Palghar Fire Brigade.
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On Wednesday, he and his friends had gone to Kolam beach in Virar to play football, but they stopped short when they saw 10 dolphins stranded on the shore.
Abhishekh did not even think twice before rushing to their aid, even though the beach is infamous for drowning incidents.
Just last month, three youths had drowned there. Illegal sand mining has made the beach even more dangerous, leaving the sand there unstable and pockmarked with sinkholes.
Gasping for breath
But being a good swimmer, Abhishekh was confident that he could navigate the choppy waters and told his friends he was going to rescue the dolphins.
“The dolphins were gasping for breath. If we had not acted quickly, there was every possibility that the dolphins would have died,” he said.
“Two of the bigger ones were in shallow water but still could not move, while the rest were on the sand. The tide was low, and we assumed that the dolphins must have come to the beach during high tide and got trapped there,” added Abhishekh.
Rescue effort
Since he was the best swimmer on the team, he dealt with the bigger dolphins, pushing them into the sea, one by one. Meanwhile, his friends — Jenil Bari (22), Pranay Gavankar (26), Ayaz Shaikh (26), Rahul Bhosle (22) and Joy D’cunha (41) – pushed the smaller dolphins a few metres into the sea as well, and after which Abhishekh swam with the creatures to lead them to the deeper waters.
“The dolphins were heavy and it was impractical to carry them towards the water. So I rolled them towards the waves and, in the meantime, I asked my friends to get the smaller ones closer to the water too,” he recalled.
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His friend Bari added, “Each one weighed about 40 kg. We decided to split in two groups and pass the dolphins to him one after another. By the time we released the sixth dolphin into the sea, all of us were exhausted. But if we had rested even for a minute, the other dolphins would have lost their lives. The entire operation was done in less than 40 minutes. Looking at our efforts, few more locals joined in and they helped us send back two dolphins into the sea.”
“Saving lives is an amazing feeling. I cannot forget the sight of Dolphins swimming back into the deep water. I feel so proud and happy,” concluded Abhishekh, who saved the lives of 10 dolphins, all in a day’s work.
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