A pod of dolphins got stuck in the mud at low tide — here's how a N.S. community saved them

A Nova Scotia woman's trip to the grocery store ended up in mud-soaked sneakers, 16 rescued dolphins and a new sense of community.

On Friday afternoon, dozens of people in Digby, N.S,. rallied to save a stranded pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins that had become stuck in the Annapolis Basin as the tide went out.

Linda Groocock of Annapolis Royal spotted the group of dolphins through binoculars she keeps in her car. She was on a break from running errands in Digby.

At first she just enjoyed watching them swim in the sunshine, but soon realized they were in trouble.

"The tide's going out, and more and more are starting to beach because … those Bay of Fundy tides are quite something," Groocock said Saturday.

She put out a call for help, eventually getting in touch with the Marine Animal Response Society.

The Halifax-based group wasn't able to travel to Digby in time, so it enlisted Digby's volunteer fire department and officials with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to organize a rescue effort around 3 p.m.

Meanwhile, Groocock also posted about the dolphins on social media and alerted the nearby Digby Regional High school — so the first people to join her on scene were three teenage boys.

"It was like angels walking across the mud to help. It was wonderful. And then just more and more people arrived after that," Groocock said. "It was an experience of a lifetime."

Groocock said fisheries staff showed everyone what to do. Mud was packed around the dolphins to keep them lying on their bellies. Blowholes were kept clear with soaked towels.

An unusually warm November day helped the rescue effort. Groocock said the water wasn't very cold and nobody cared about getting wet and muddy.

People were calling out to each other to make sure everyone was OK during the process, Groocock said, and there was a real sense of community.

Having recently moved to the area from Ontario, Groocock said she's had some homesickness that has been slowly easing as she gets more involved with people. 

"Seeing how everybody came together yesterday, it was truly amazing for these beautiful creatures who … if it wasn't for everybody, it may not have ended so well for them," Groocock said.