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Wildlife volunteers raced to the aid of a porpoise who was left stranded on a Gwynedd beach.

Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife volunteer Vivien Finn was walking on Morfa Bychan beach near Porthmadog in search of injured seabirds when she spotted the distressed mammal.

It is thought that the young porpoise got into difficulty during the severe wind and heavy rain during Storm Desmond and ended up beached on the shore.

Vivien told the Daily Post: “I found it while looking for seabirds injured in the storm and the beach was pretty empty, but then I spotted some crows around an object and then I saw the tail flip up and I just ran over there as fast as I could and the crows flew away.

“I could tell it was still alive, but it couldn’t move.”

Determined to help the porpoise Vivien called in for back-up from fellow Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife volunteers Tony Ashton, Kath Keir and Dave Moseley as well as two North Wales police community support officers.

Vivien said: “The six of us rolled it on some tarpaulin and carried it down to the water. The porpoise started to thrash around and make noises so had plenty of strength. We got to the water but unfortunately it was swimming but kept beaching itself as there wasn’t enough water.”

Kayak rescue

Luckily, resident Jim Ozanne came to the rescue - with a kayak.

Quick-thinking Jim paddled out to sea and was able to encourage the porpoise out to open water beyond the breakers.

Vivien said: “Jim waded out there and was carrying it at one point and then managed to walk with it and then it just went out to sea.”

She added: “I hope it is able to find the pod it belongs to and stays in the water. I’ve been up all night worrying about it and I just hope it hasn’t washed up again.

"We spent about four hours helping the porpoise but it was all worth it for the result as it could have been a lot worse with the crows circling.

“We are just so grateful to everyone who helped, including a local vet who arrived to assist us.”

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