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Dony in Holland!
Monday, December 16, 2002
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We reported last week that Dony the dolphin had moved from Boulogne – where he had spent much of the autumn – 170km north-east to the city of Antwerp in Belgium. This was in itself an extraordinary twist in the saga of one dolphin’s travels, as the busy port of Antwerp lies some 90km from the open sea and is only reached by following a partly canalised river the last 25km.
Now Dony (or Leo as he was nicknamed in Antwerp) has excelled himself again by navigating through two canals and two separate and enclosed branches of the southern Rhine/Maas delta to Dinteloord in the Netherlands. This small town lies at the end of a freshwater inlet of the former delta which is closed off from the open sea by dams and sea locks that can only be passed at high tide. Dony spent Friday and Saturday 13th-14th December in the yachting harbour at nearby Dintelmond and aroused concerns about having being in ‘fresh’ (but dirty) water for so long. Accordingly the Dutch rescue services (KNRM) deployed a jet boat to lead the dolphin back out to the open sea, passing through two locks across the Haringvliet inlet and out past Stellendam. They were successful in encouraging the dolphin to follow a distance of over 40km and having brought the dolphin 5 km out to the open sea they turned off the engines and waited for Dony to disappear. When they could no longer see him they returned home at full speed. It appears the manoeuvre was successful, in that fishermen later reported sighting the dolphin further offshore.
The pattern throughout Dony’s travels has been for him to follow boats from one port to another so it is probably that he will soon pick up another vessel. One of the most likely places for him to to turn up next – and one of the most undesirable for a dolphin – would be the nearby city of Rotterdam with its busy commercial port and large industrial complexes. With the many boats he would encounter in that area there would be an increased risk of the type of propeller collision injuries to which Dony is so prone. Moreover cannot help but fear that living, and somehow feeding, in the semi-toxic waters of the North Sea coastline, the dolphin must already be building up a significant burden of pollutants in his body. However we also respect Dony’s right to go where he pleases, even if it’s not good for his health, and we hope that he can handle this as he has handled many adventures already.
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Many thanks to Adri Steffen at LENdesign and Waterkantshipstore, and to Gauthier Chapelle for keeping us informed.
Go here for more pics of Dony in Holland |
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Date
Posted: 16/12/2002
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