Saving a dolphin named ‘Chess’ – video highlights growing bond with marine life

A stranded dolphin found on a beach on a tourist island in China is becoming a metaphor for how people can unite to save another species, following the release of a video on World Oceans Day on Thursday showing a community’s determined effort to rescue the dolphin named "Chess".

The story began in April last year, when a tourist strolling on a beach in on Hainan Island discovered a severely wounded dolphin stranded on a beach in Qizi Bay. The stranded dolphin was dehydrated, had an inflamed wound, and suspected internal injuries. Officials were quickly contacted and a rescue team was dispatched to save the dolphin.

"It was the first time were ever tried to rescue a stranded dolphin," said Luo Biao, deputy director of Shilu Fire and Rescue Station and a member of the rescue team.

A nursing team and veterinarian specialists were called in to help. They cared for and monitored the dolphin closely, and embarked on an intensive rehabilitation effort to ensure he would be strong enough to return to the ocean. Initially there were doubts about whether the effort would succeed. The dolphin did not trust people, members of the rescue team said. They had to proceed slowly in an effort to gain his trust.

In the process they named him after the bay he emerged from, which means "Chess” in English. After almost a year of recovery, Chess was finally released back into his natural habitat. The video highlights the challenges of rescuing Chess from the moment he was found gasping in the shallow waves that rolled into the sand of Qizi Bay.

The sympathy felt by the lone tourist who first discovered Chess struggling to survive, expands to encompass an entire community who help him regain his strength so he can return to his natural habitat. The effort required to save Chess has become a reminder of the need to protect other species and their habitats, as well as the natural sympathy that binds us to them, marine conservationists say.