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Police heroes waded in to rescue a distressed dolphin stranded in shallow water.

The stricken mammal - nicknamed Danny the Dolphin by officers - ended up trapped and thrashing around on the foreshore near Girvan.

The bottlenose dolphin was in grave danger of drowning as his blowhole could have been forced downwards into six inches of water.

But his rescuers managed to wrestle him on to his stomach.

The officers then gave Danny a police escort, steering him out to deeper water.

And he rewarded them with a lap of honour before disappearing into the waves.

The three officers pulled off their boots and leapt in to save his life.

Police had received the unusual call about the helpless creature who was stuck on his side on May 4.

Wildlife crime officer Graeme Gordon was on the scene at Woodlands Bay and said it was a Bottlenose rather than a porpoise.

Graeme said: “When we arrived the dolphin was struggling in very shallow water and could not get upright. The bottlenose was moving back and forth on its side.

“It looked like a young mammal and measured about six feet long. I was very worried he would drown. We needed to get him moved so his breathing hole was upright.” Dolphins cannot breathe underwater and rely on their blowhole for oxygen.

PC Gordon added: “The cops managed to get the dolphin on his front.

“They waited a minute until the mammal’s breathing returned to normal and became regular and then released it into deeper water.

“The dolphin gave us a couple flicks of his tail and was off.

“We waited to make sure the dolphin was okay. When we were walking away I looked down and saw the dolphin was swimming up and down as if to say ‘cheers for that.’ It was very moving.”

PC Gordon praised his fellow colleagues Murray Jamieson, David Stewart and Gordon Thomson who dived in to save the mammal’s life while he issued instructions on the beach.

The crew came from Maybole and Girvan.

PC Gordon added: “The guys just went straight in wearing their uniforms. Their faces beamed for the rest of the day and it got the cops all involved.”