As someone who goes to the beach nearly every weekend and is a huge animal lover, I know it would be hard to not want to jump in and help if you saw an animal in need, but FWC has a message to spread and that is to stop trying to save beached marine animals.
In this day and age of viral videos, NBC2 reports that there have been many lately in SWFL of people trying to save animals that have brought themselves to the shore. Denise Boyd who is a marine mammal researcher for FWC says that when the animals do this it is often because they are sick or injured, so instead of trying to push them back into the water yourself, call FWC and the Southwest Field Station has people ready to assist.
You may think you’re doing a good thing, but if the animal can’t get the help it needs to later be rereleased, it could end up dying once it goes back into the water. It’s a sad thing to think about if you’re trying to help, but it’s an important reality.
If you do find a stranded or beached marine mammal like a dolphin, manatee or whale, you can call the FWC Wildlife Alert number 1-888-404-3922 and press 7 or #FWC.
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