DUN Laoghaire RNLI mechanic Kieran O’Connell and maintenance manager Conor Walsh carried out a rescue with a difference recently when they went to the aid of a cormorant that had become entangled in hooks.
The alarm was raised when a number of people who had been walking on the East Pier saw the bird struggling in the water and contacted the nearby lifeboat station.
Kieran had been working on the lifeboat and Connor was in the station when they were alerted to the incident and they took the small boarding boat the short distance across the harbour to see if they could help.
When they arrived they saw that the bird was in some difficulty and they immediately worked to free it from the hooks and untangle it.
The bird was released unharmed and went safely on its way.
Commenting on the unusual rescue, Kieran
‘Colley’ O’Connell said:
“It might be the first callout where we didn’t use the lifeboat but we knew that the poor thing was obviously in pain and struggling nearby, so off we went.
“We normally use the boarding boat to get from the station out to the all-weather lifeboat but on this occasion myself and Connor took it and went across the harbour to see if we could help.
“The cormorant had got itself in a terrible state,
? he added.
“As well as the hooks it had got caught in, it had also become entangled in a dead seagull. We gently removed the hooks and untangled it and it went happily on its way. It was nice to be able to help and we want to thank all the people who called in to report it.
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