Beached dolphin saved!

Mote Marine Laboratory rescued a beached bottlenose dolphin Saturday afternoon near the 3700 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive.Residents of a nearby trailer park tried to push the juvenile dolphin back into the Gulf of Mexico after it became stranded. Scientists from Mote took the dolphin for treatment at around 3:30 p.m., said Jamie Tacy, a spokeswoman for Mote Marine.

"When a dolphin is beached, people shouldn't try and push it in the water," Tacy said. "They usually come up to shallow water when they are sick or weak. The proper thing to do is to call the authorities."Tacy says it's not unusual for a dolphin to beach itself, but the best thing to do is cover it with wet towels. "There have been quite a few in the Tampa Bay area," Tacy said.

"This one has some lesions, but they are healing. We will keep it until it's healthy. Our goal at Mote is to eventually return the animal to the wild, but we never know when that will be."Call Mote's 24-hour pager system at 988-0212 to report stranded aquatic mammals or turtles.