Two dolphins rescued in Western Cape

Two dolphins were rescued from Langebaan Lagoon in the Western Cape after getting stranded, the National Sea Rescue Institute said on Monday.

An adult female dolphin and her calf became stranded in shallow water in the channel on Sunday afternoon and could not get out because of low tide, said spokesman Craig Lambinon.

"It is not known what caused the dolphins to be so far up the lagoon," he said.

A lot of kite-surfers were in the area at the time and reported the incident.

Lambinon said Wildlife Rescue, NSRI volunteers, and bystanders assisted in the rescue.

"The two dolphins were secured onto our medical trauma boards and loaded onto our sea rescue craft and transported out of the lagoon mouth into open sea water and released in the vicinity of Jutton Island," he said.

"It appears that the two dolphins are healthy and we are cautiously optimistic and confident that they survived this ordeal after appearing to both swim away strongly."