The Minister for the Environment, John Cortes, recently met with Liam Santos and Nick Garcia, who were involved in an attempt to rescue a striped dolphin near Sandy Bay. The Minister was accompanied by Dr Liesl Mesilio, CEO of the Department of the Environment, and Stephen Warr, Senior Scientific Officer.

Despite the bad weather, Liam entered the water to protect the dolphin from banging against the rocks while Nick called for help, through GONHS, which came in the form of the Department of the Environment’s Environmental Research and Protection Unit (EPRU).

Sadly, the dolphin could not be saved, although the Gibraltar Veterinary Clinic collected and prepared samples for analysis to try and determine the cause of death.

Later, the Minister, Department officials and the two young men discussed matters related to environmental protection, and Liam and Nick were presented with a collection of publications on the environment, and, in the near future, they will accompany the EPRU on board one of the Department’s vessels in the near future.

John Cortes commented: “Not everyone would dive into a wintry sea to try and save a dolphin, and these young men deserve the highest praise for their initiative. The team from the Department of the Environment and Climate Change and I wanted to thank them personally, and greatly enjoyed talking to them about matters of common interest.”

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