Animal News
Swimmers have been warned to stay away from a dolphin in County Clare,
Ireland, after the animal injured another bather. The dolphin, known as
Dusty by locals, has been involved in four such incidents in the past
month in Doolin harbor.
Authorities have repeatedly issued warnings
not to swim with the female bottlenose dolphin.
Dusty charged a woman as she left the water on Sunday night with some reports claiming she suffered back injuries.
Dusty is believed to have struck the woman in the kidney area with its nose, knocking her over and leaving her winded.
Coast Guard officers treated the woman at the scene before she was taken
by ambulance to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick.
She was left badly bruised and shocked by the incident.
Dusty, believed to be about 14 years old, arrived in Doolin pier from
the Fanore area of north Clare in 2011.
Dusty getting agitated with some over-enthusiastic bathers last year.
Locals say the three-meter long mammal, named after British pop singer,
Dusty Springfield, whose ashes were scattered off the Cliffs of Moher,
has been responsible for injuring a number of people over the past two
years, with several of those being hospitalized with significant
injuries.
Now local groups are warning visitors to the area
to respect the dolphin as a wild animal and not as a pet, despite the friendly connotations of the mammal.
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