HAVING harboured a fondness for dolphins since a young age, and being on the lookout for a porpoise in life, I jumped at the chance to train with the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) team and become a fully fledged marine mammal medic, someone who will be called upon should any dolphin, whale or seal be in trouble on the shorelines around Dorset.

While the town of Bournemouth watched with bated breath as Gilbert the northern bottlenose whale frolicked in the bay over the summer, it was the BDMLR who were steadily collating data behind the scenes, poised should the poor lost soul need a hand and, when she sadly washed up dead on Branksome beach, it was they who were on the scene, checking her for signs of life and, ultimately, for what had led to her demise.

The BDMLR has an impressive history of responding to marine mammal emergencies and strandings all over the country and, though not all refloat attempts are successful, in May 2003 they successfully refloated three common dolphins at Studland beach.

The charity was started in 1988, when the seal distemper outbreak, which was killing thousands of common seals, inspired several divers to unite and try to save the poor creatures.

Since then, the group has been involved in every marine disaster around Britain’s coasts, and regularly helps an enormous number of seals, as well as occasional whales and dolphins, either to recover from ailments or to die peacefully and quickly.

Signed up for the course and raring to go, I turned up at Branksome Dene Community Room, overlooking the beach at Branksome Dene Chine, to find howling winds, rain and crashing waves.

Hmmm. Despite all 25 trainees having their wet or dry suits ready, it was looking unlikely we’d be doing any training in the sea.

No matter, we huddled inside for three fascinating lectures on marine mammal biology, common ailments and rescue practices from experts in the field who had attended many rescues themselves and came from all over the country, as had many of the animal lovers on the course, to my surprise.

After a break for lunch, the weather had calmed enough for us to venture outside, and start our practical training with the life-sized, water-filled (for realistic weight) seal pup, dolphin and pilot whale models.

In three groups we got to grips with the logistics of a safe and effective rescue: “jumping” and calming a poorly seal with the benefit of surprise, and also lifting and carrying the creature without sustaining any nasty wounds from the animal’s frightening teeth or claws; digging trenches for a dolphin’s pectoral fins for their comfort if stranded, keeping them wet and cool, their blowholes uncovered and lubricated (yes, KY Jelly is apparently a must for any marine medic’s emergency “grab bag”!); and the complex process of using tank-inflated pontoons for refloating stranded whales (up to a certain size – unfortunately there’s nothing to be done for larger species, although the possibility of a blue whale beaching next to Bournemouth is pretty slim!) By the end of the day-long session, through demonstrations and practice, we all had a great deal of fascinating information ingrained in our brains on exactly what to do should we get the call from HQ – an exciting but sad prospect.

And seasoned rescuer BDMLR Dorset co-ordinator Jenny O’Connor knows all about what can happen on a call.

Having been on the scene for over a decade, and with BDMLR for over four years, she’s had her share of adventures.

On helping the three Studland dolphins, she fondly recalls the moment just after one of the adult females had been refloated: “She swam back around and through my legs, before swimming away.

“It was as if she was saying thanks!”

And when the famous bottlenose dolphin Georges entered local waters in 2002, it was Jenny who got wet in order to monitor his progress and make sure he was okay.

Also present at the attempted rescue of the Thames northern bottlenose whale in January 2006, among numerous other emergencies, including the Prestige oil spill off Spain in 2002, Jenny firmly believes that the BDMLR offers an invaluable service, and that it should be recognised officially, in the same way as the RSPCA is for land animals.

“Over the years many seals, whales and dolphins would have died without the BDMLR.”

I’m with her all the way, and look forward to joining my fellow Dorset medics (there are now about 80 of us) and assisting any creatures in distress around our local coastline.

If you’d like to sign up for some training, or just want to know more about the important work the BDMLR does, visit bdmlr.org.uk