What To Do If You See A Wounded Animal At Sea

In recent years, as many of you already know, the pollution of the seas and oceans is getting worse. The amount of garbage in the sea is increasingly visible and for people who love nature it is very unpleasant to go sailing and find clumps of plastic and other floating debris. But those who suffer the most in this situation are marine living beings.

In social networks, videos or photographs of people browsing who find an injured or dead animal, rolled or drowned by plastic, fishing lines and other human waste, are becoming a habit. Here in the Mediterranean Sea, we can unfortunately also find ourselves in this unpleasant situation. That is why as sailors and lovers of the sea we have the responsibility to act ethically and prudently. Many times, people, always in good faith, want to help animals in danger by unrolling them from plastic, but this is not the most sensible way to act, no matter how much it may seem.

If on any occasion you find an animal injured or apparently dead, the best way to help it is to call 112 immediately. Many of you may wonder: how can it be that getting him out of trouble is not the best way to help? Well, for several reasons:

We are not sure if the objects that coil or trap the animal have only affected it externally. It is very possible that you ingested them or caused internal injuries. If so, the animal would not be able to fend for itself once released.

If the objects have caused you internal damage, we can cause you even more pain and suffering when handled, we can even hurt you even more unintentionally.

Handling a wild animal can be dangerous for him and for us. These animals are not used to humans and although it may not seem like it causes them a lot of stress to be in our hands (some may stop eating due to stress). They could also attack us in the form of defense and cause damage to us, by impact, scratch or bite.

In addition, wild animals can be carriers of diseases that they can transmit to us. It is better to avoid touching them.

For these reasons, the best protocol to follow is to call 112 quickly and provide the necessary information: contact and information of the observer, location as exact as possible, type of animal and approximate size. Then they will indicate the necessary information to help the animal and they will notify a rescue team.

The world of sailing is closely related to the environment and nature and in order to continue practicing our passion we must take care of it. The best way is to be aware of and respect the environment, avoiding throwing waste into the sea and collecting waste that we can find. Small gestures are important!