'Don't swim with the dolphin' warning after tourist injured
A GERMAN man was in hospital last night suffering from abdominal injuries after a collision with a wild female bottle-nosed dolphin.
The incident with the 41-year-old tourist prompted Clare Co Council's Water Safety Development Officer, Liam Griffin to issue a fresh warning to people not to swim with the dolphin.
The injured man was taken to Ennis General Hospital shortly after the incident on Sunday evening and was last night described as being in a stable condition.
Mr Griffin said: "People should not swim with the dolphin. Any incident that requires hospital treatment is serious and the man could have been in serious trouble if he had been struck any harder."
The incident took place off the coast near the west Clare village of Miltown Malbay and Mr Griffin confirmed that the dolphin is the same one that has been attracting crowds off the north Clare coast at Fanore over the past four summers.
He said: "There have been a number of minor incidents with the dolphin, but thankfully no one has been seriously hurt."
Mr Griffin added: "There is no lifeguard at this location, which is near the White Strand beach. We advise people not to swim with the dolphin but they don't listen."
The dolphin, which has attracted thousands of visitors over the past five years, has a reputation for being "friendly" with people allowing them to rub her tummy, her dorsal fin and swim closely with her.
However, in 2003, a Co Galway woman suffered two cracked ribs while swimming with the dolphin near Fanore, while in 2001, a man in his thirties was removed from the water at Fanore unconscious while interacting with the dolphin.
The dolphin first appeared off the coast at Doolin in 2000 and chairman of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) Dr Simon Berrow yesterday echoed Mr Griffin's warning to people not to swim with the dolphin.
He said: "We would advise people not to swim with the dolphin, but if they do, they should . . . be prepared to suffer the consequences. The dolphin is a wild, unpredictable animal."
He added: "Someone will eventually get killed by a dolphin. Boisterous ramming from dolphins has killed people in the past."
- Gordon Deegan
