Nessie
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Nessie is a Bottlenose dolphin displaced after Hurricane Ike into Clam Lake--a shallow body
of water located in McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge near Sabine Pass, TX. The TMMSN received about
half a dozen reports since September of 2008 that there was a dolphin in the marsh-bound lake but
after multiple surveys by truck, ATV, and airboat by TMMSN staff and volunteers over the next few months
the animal was never sighted, and no photographs were ever captured by
the witnesses of the animal swimming around
in the shallow water.
During the spring and summer of 2009 a couple of reports from local fisherman
began to trickle into the TMMSN (800)9-MAMMAL hotline and TMMSN staff once again resumed surveys to visually confirm
the existence of the dolphin which by this was dubbed "Nessie" after the elusive Scottish Loch-ness monster.
CLICK HERE FOR A SLIDESHOW OF NESSIE'S RESCUE
Finally, in August of 2009, the TMMSN obtained photographic confirmation of Nessie and a rescue plan began to take shape.
With staff and gear in place for the rescue of Mohawk down in South Padre Island, we seized the opportunity to relocate
Nessie during the same week of activity.
On August 29, 2009, the team gathered at Clam Lake at 0730. The team consisted mostly of TMMSN volunteers, but we leaned heavily
on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists who generously volunteered
their time and boats to the relocation effort. Also assisting with the rescue was Steve McCullough, of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, and Frank, a volunteer from Mote Marine.
Even with the still air and water like glass, Nessie maintained her invisibility for some time before she
was spotted, barely surfacing above the water. Within seconds of sighting Nessie, we had her surrounded and safely restrained.
Despite a previously healed amputation of her right pectoral fin, the veterinary
team deemed her healthy, and indeed, she was actually quite plump--evidence she had been feeding well.
After the veterinary team took the necessary samples and photographs and attached the roto-tag for identification, Nessie was transported a few hundred yards by boat to the
TMMSN rescue truck and driven the short stretch to the beach. She was successfully released into the Gulf of Mexico less than 4 miles
from where she was found. 