LIFESAVERS in Holyhead were called to an incident involving a 20ft fisher vessel and what was thought to be a distressed dolphin.

This was on Wednesday June 2.

RNLI Holyhead Lifeboat volunteer crew were paged at 3pm to a 20ft day-fisher vessel, with four people on board, which had got into difficulty below Elin’s Tower, South Stack; Her propeller had become entangled in a lobster pot rope.

Co-ordinated by HM Coastguard, the Severn-class Christopher Pearce was quickly on scene.

A grappling hook was used to free the lobster pot rope from the sea bed.

Once the casualty vessel was freed, the lifeboat carried out an alongside tow into safer water and on reaching open water, changed to an astern tow towards Holyhead.

On reaching the inner harbour, an alongside tow was once again utilised to place the craft onto her Holyhead Sailing Club mooring. The ALB then headed back to her berth in Holyhead Port.

A spokesperson for RNLI Holyhead said: "No sooner had the volunteers returned and prepared the lifeboat for any further calls, the crew were once again called out to reports of a distressed dolphin in the Bolsach area of Newry Beach.

"The D-class inshore lifeboat Mary and Archie Hooper was launched, and on reaching the scene, began to investigate the area. Nothing was found, but the lifeboat crew remained at the location until the arrival of British Divers Marine Life Rescue who took over the search, allowing the lifeboat to return to station to be prepared for service."

Tony Price, Holyhead lifeboat coxswain, said the incident with the tangled propeller was the latest incident of a similar nature in the area.

He warned sailors to beware.

He added: "It’s worth knowing that there have been several recent cases of loose ropes and lobster pots causing problems for vessels. Possibly sailors are getting in close to the rocky coastal areas to get a closer look at the nesting wildlife, including puffins – but there is a danger to propellers there that they may not realise.

"Regarding the dolphin, I really hope it managed to get to safer waters.

"It's brilliant that the public are all so vigilant when it comes to caring for our marine life.

"It's also great that the coastguard can call for professionals to deal with these incidents and we'd like to thank the British Divers Marine Life Rescue for attending so quickly."