This is the moment Argentine Navy personnel rescue two disorientated dolphins trapped under a pier and return them to open sea.

The rescue took place in the city of Ushuaia in Argentina’s southernmost province of Tierra del Fuego on the afternoon of 13th February.

According to local reports, over a dozen ‘false killer whales’ (Pseudorca crassidens), a species of oceanic dolphin that is the only extant representative of the genus Pseudorca with similar skull characteristics to the killer whale (Orcinus orca), became stranded off the Argentine coast after becoming disorientated.

The dolphins started to collide with one another and bang into objects near the coast, and two became trapped under a pier and needed rescuing.

Argentine Navy personnel were sent to the scene to assist the stranded marine mammals.

Although it is currently unclear what caused the pod to become disorientated, the local authorities said it is possible the dolphins were scattered by a fishing boat in the area, and then they became disorientated and followed the vessel back to shore.

Local meteorologist Jose Bianco told the news site Todo Noticias: “They are like black killer whales, but they belong to the dolphin family. People here are used to seeing them.

“They became cornered and people tried to help. The stranded animals should have been analysed to see if they had an infection that could have affected their sense of orientation.”

The Navy said it returned the stranded dolphins back to open sea without too much trouble.