Two kayakers rescued a distressed juvenile dolphin caught in a plastic ring on Friday.

Martha Spiteri and her father, Mark Spiteri, were out along the coast of Fomm ir-Riħ when they saw the dolphin in the distance, later realising it was in distress.

“We spotted the dolphin and rowed towards it; I was so excited to see a dolphin up close,” 27-year-old Martha Spiteri said.

“We soon realised something was wrong; we could see it was barely moving and thought it was dead,” she said.

The father and daughter soon realised that the juvenile dolphin was caught in a plastic ring.

“The dolphin let us touch it, and it kept calm when we tried to help,” she said.

While the father held the dolphin, Martha managed to wrangle out the plastic. The dolphin seemed initially distressed, but it soon started swimming more comfortably.

The Spiteris managed to contact Nature Trust Malta, who asked the police to search for the dolphin to ensure it was safe.

The dolphin was caught in between a plastic ring.

But by the time a police dinghy arrived at Fomm ir-Riħ, the dolphin had already swum away. The police kept on searching for the dolphin but failed to spot it.

The Environment and Resource Authority also searched for the dolphin on land, using binoculars.

If spotted, the dolphin would have been checked to ensure it was breathing correctly and no plastics remained stuck to its body, Vince Attard, president of Nature Trust Malta, said.

The dolphin could have swam away searching for its pod – the group of dolphins that swim and hunt together.

“Without the pod, the dolphin wouldn’t survive,” Attard said.

Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly “common” for marine life to ingest plastics, the president of Nature Trust Malta added.

He said that dolphins often play with plastic or try to eat it. Turtles, he said, often swallow pieces of plastic, thinking they are jellyfish.

On Wednesday, Nature Trust Malta received a report of two entangled turtles along the Gozo coast. An AFM patrol boat and Nature Trust Malta tried to locate the turtles but were impeded by rough seas.

Nature Trust Malta is the first port of call if you spot distressed wildlife. Their hotline number is 9999 9505. The Environment and Resource Authority can also be contacted in emergency cases. Their number is 2292 3500.