Back to the Blue
TOM AND MISHA CONTINUE TO ADAPT TO LIFE IN THE WILD
DOLPHIN REHABILITATION PROGRAMME, TURKEY
Since their release into the wild on May 9th, following 20 months in a dedicated and expert rehabilitation programme, Tom and Misha have made excellent progress. According to the satellite mapping, they have travelled hundreds of miles in a pattern that indicates they remain healthy and are feeding well. While the dolphins have split up, the tracking team have been able to obtain many good visual observations of Tom confirming he is in excellent body condition thus supporting the information supplied by the satellite tags.
The main threat to their chances of making a full re-adaption to life in the wild is human intervention. Both dolphins were originally wild caught and through their enforced captivity have known a great deal of human contact. Their rehabilitation programme took them through the many stages required to reduce their dependance on human contact and transfer their diet from dead fish being fed to them by their carers to the hunting of remotely supplied live fish. Via these techniques they have become efficient and independent hunters, as well as healthy and strong dolphins, ready to take their place back in the wild.
Recent reports confirm that Tom has been swimming in the vicinity of Kusadasi and it is here he has faced a potential threat from the unwarranted attention of the local aquarium. Representatives interacted with him with training whistles and the provision of food. Tom has confirmed his independence by swimming away. However, if such interactions are repeated again and again problems could ensue.
‘This interaction with Tom is most unhelpful as he finally adapts to life back in the wild, and could cause a critical set back to Tom's progress if allowed to continue. Our team in Turkey and our project lawyer, Sule Beder, have made it clear this intervention must stop immediately. Our team is on-site now.’ confirmed Alison Hood.
Jeff Foster, who has led the rehabilitation programme and is in Kusadasi confirms ‘Tom is looking good. Port Authorities in Turkey and Greece are being supportive and, understanding of this crucial time for Tom and Misha, are working with us to help ensure both dolphins integrate fully back to the wild without further human interference’.
In Greece, Greek NGO Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation is working with the Port Authorities to relay the message that it is vital people do not interact with any dolphin that swims close to the shore. Harbour areas often provide good and sheltered hunting grounds for dolphins, so it is not surprising if Tom or Misha, or other wild dolphins, go in search of such a food source. It is vitally important that such dolphins are not interfered with and allowed to behave naturally. In Turkey, the NGO Ekosistemi Koruma ve Doğa Severler Derneği is working closely with the team and Sualti Arastirmalari Dernegi continue with their support.
The release
With a mighty surge Tom and Misha are free once more!
Rescued from death’s door and the confines of a filthy festering ‘swimming pool’ in Hisaronu, Turkey, nearly two years of careful care and preparation finally reached its stunning climax when the gate to their sea pen was opened for the first time and the two dolphins swam Back To The Blue.
At the opening of Tom and Misha’s gateway to freedom was legendary actress and wildlife campaigner Virginia McKenna OBE alongside Coronation Street favourite, Helen Worth, TV Investigator Donal MacIntyre and Derya Yildirim from the on-site team. See the moment as it happened in the video below:
- Virginia, Jeff and Donal
Virginia McKenna was deeply moved by the whole experience:
“We could hardly believe it. All the months of planning by our dedicated team, all the time, the money, the effort. As we prepared to lift the gate I know we were all asking the same question: would Tom and Misha take their chance of freedom? We should never have doubted! They looked. They paused and then they seemed to leap for joy as the barriers were finally removed; this was all the evidence we needed. Their release back into the wild is a dream come true.”
The international team of marine mammal experts from the US, UK and Turkey, led by Jeff Foster, masterminded the release every inch of the way. Jeff said, “Twenty months of intensive rehab work looks like they have paid off! Tom and Misha are looking great. We took two dolphins with perhaps only weeks to live and brought them back to full health and fitness, worked to teach them them the essential skills required for survival, such as catching live fish from the local seas which they now hunt enthusiastically. In my experience, if any former captive dolphins can make it back in the wild where they belong then Tom and Misha can.”
Helen Worth had been with the project since the beginning and said, ”When I first saw them in that hell of a pool I wondered if they would survive. It’s been the most heart-wrenching journey with so many challenges but each and every one of them has been overcome by the team and, most importantly, by Tom and Misha themselves. The drama and emotion of Tom and Misha’s story is an inspiration.”
The two dolphins are being tracked by state-of-the-art satellite and radio equipment. Within the first hour the tracking team reported that they had travelled a distance of 4.2 nautical miles hugging the coast before heading out to sea where they were later seen interacting with a wild dolphin.
The gleaming Aegean Sea, sandy bays and rocky inlets of the small protected area in Karaka, off the South West coast of Turkey, where the release took place, are a stark contrast to the contaminated and condemned pool that the dolphins were rescued from.
- Helen Worth with Tom and Misha before their rescue
Reportedly captured from the wild off the provincial port of Ismir some 6 or 7 years ago, in 2010 Tom and Misha were taken to the mountainous tourist hotspot of Hisaronu where tourists were encouraged to pay to swim with them in a hastily-built pool as part of an ill-conceived business venture.
Donal MacIntyre, a journalist used to seeing the meaner side of life, was closely involved in negotiating the release of the animals. “Tom and Misha were dealt a tough hand and their fate was almost sealed before the Born Free team stepped in and righted a terrible injustice – just in the nick of time. I feel very proud to have been part of the incredible project and today has proved all the hard work was more than worth it.”
Born Free first learned of their plight through the campaigning work of the Dolphin Angels, a global group of activists who were horrified by the conditions in Hisaronu.
Nichola Chapman, spokesperson for Dolphin Angels, said “Dolphin Angels around the world campaigned tirelessly for Misha and Tom’s release. Thanks to Born Free and the dedicated rehabilitation team we are delighted to have witnessed Misha and Tom swim away from a life sentence in captivity, to become ambassadors for dolphin freedom everywhere.”
Virginia said: “It cannot be right that these magnificent, intelligent and social animals are treated in such an appalling way and housed in unnatural and sterile environments around the world for so-called entertainment. Just for once, let’s put the animals first.”
Born Free is calling for an international ban on the capture of wild dolphins and hopes that Back To The Blue will provide a template for future dolphin release projects that will, one day, lead to the end of dolphins in captivity – as has been the case in the UK since 1991.
Jeff Foster concluded, “Seeing Tom and Misha race through the ocean, hunting and chasing fish and even hooking up with a wild dolphin after just a few hours of freedom, indicates that they are right on track. We will continue to travel with them and monitor their progress for a while to come – but for now it looks like it has been a great day.”
- Misha after the release as the team look on
- Tom goes after a fish in the wild for the first time in years
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Note: Tom and Misha’s rescue, care and release and the Back To The Blue project would not have been possible without the extraordinary help, support and encouragement of many organisations and individuals. On behalf of Tom and Misha and all at Born Free we want to say a huge Thank You to: The team at British Divers Marine Life Rescue, The Underwater Research Society (Turkey), Gokova Sailing Club, Dolphin Angels, Global Ocean, Thomson Airways, Thomas Cook, Jeff, Derya, Amy, Mike, Jim, Steve, Robin, Juli, Dan, Trevor, Mark, Sule, and John.
And of course to you, the Born Free supporters.
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