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SYDNEY - A dolphin has died after beaching itself north of Wollongong.
Police were called to an area about 250m east of the Bellambi boat ramp car park at Bellambi at 5.45am yesterday after passers-by discovered the distressed mammal stranded on the shoreline.
Instructed by the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans (ORRCA) by phone, police positioned the dolphin correctly and kept the mammal wet until ORRCA volunteers and National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) staff arrived at the scene.
Once at the scene, they decided to move the dolphin to calmer waters adjacent to the Bellambi Boat ramp by using a tarpaulin to carry the animal over land.
NPWS staff called a vet, who examined the dolphin and determined the mammal was beyond help and would need to be euthanased.
The dolphin was loaded onto a NPWS vehicle and conveyed under police escort to a local veterinary clinic but died en route.
- AAP