Beachgoers help a dolphin return to the sea on Granada's Costa Tropical

A group of onlookers who had seen the fin approach the shore carefully approached the dolphin and helped it back into the sea before it swam away.

Héctor Pula, technical manager of the Aula del Mar at the University of Granada, explained that it was a striped dolphin, a species included on the list of threatened flora and fauna in Andalucía. “It’s not usual for them to wash up on the shore and they usually travel in groups." After looking at a video of the rescue, Pula added, "It is quite possible that it has some sort of problem, but at first glance it would be difficult to tell.”

The striped dolphin is easy to identify by its characteristic colouring. Its back is dark, ranging from blackish-brown to bluish-grey, its flanks are grey and its belly is white or pink. The snout and back are darker than the underside. Adult males can reach up to 2.5 m in length and weigh up to 150 kg.

They prefer deep waters and almost never come within 200 metres of the coast (except where there is a steep slope). They are generally found in the tropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, as well as in many adjacent seas, including the Mediterranean Sea. They are less common in the centre of the strait of Gibraltar but can sometimes be spotted on the coast, on both the Spanish and Moroccan sides.