First call out of the year for Portaferry RNLI as crew assist 12 stranded sheep

At 9.12am on Sunday (March 2), an alarm was raised that sheep had become stranded on rocks close to Ballyquintin Point at the tip of the Ards Peninsula, where Strangford Lough meets the Irish Sea.

As a result, onshore lifeboat Blue Peter V launched promptly helmed by Paul Mageean and with crew members Scott Blackwood, Molly Crowe and George Toma onboard.

Conditions at the time were a light force 2 southerly breeze, cloudy, with good visibility and a smooth sea state.

Once on scene, the 12 sheep were observed to have stayed together but had become cut off by the turning tide quite a distance from safety. Both Portaferry Coastguard members who were also tasked and the animal's owner were assessing from the shore.

The crew assessed the situation and began to approach cautiously through the shallow waters when the sheep became unsettled, entered the water and headed for shore.

Speaking after the call out, Portaferry RNLI Helm Paul Mageean said: "This morning's call out isn't what we are usually asked to respond to.

"The tide behaves differently close to shore, and manoeuvring an 8m boat between rocks has to be done by eye. It is good to have a refresher of these skills we don't use often.

"While the sheep didn't seem keen on our orange lifeboat approaching, it was the right way to assist them as we were able to encourage them to swim in the right direction, and get them back to safety.

"We want to thank our 15 volunteers who all responded to their pagers this morning, ready to bring whoever was in difficulty back to safety. We would also like to commend farmers who seek help for these situations, and would urge pet and livestock owners not to enter the water when animals are in difficulty.

"It's always best to stay on dry land, call 999, ask for the Coastguard and give the emergency services as much detail as possible so we can assist."