Spirtle the dolphin makes miraculous recovery after suffering horrific sunburn injuries

Rescuers didn't think she would survive after being stranded for 24 hours

Fascinating photographs chart a dolphin's remarkable one-year recovery from horrific sunburn injuries.

The bottlenose dolphin - known as Spirtle - was stranded out of the water on mudflats last May.

A couple who had got lost trying to drive to a dolphin-watching spot noticed the stricken animal by chance.

Rescuers refloated the female dolphin but did not think she would survive after being stranded for 24 hours.

Marine researchers have been monitoring her recovery for the past year as part of a photo identification survey.

Initially, they weren't sure she would pull through due to her extensive sunburn, as well as severe dehydration and UV damage.

But scientists couldn't believe how well Spirtle had recovered when they spotted her again last month in the same spot, in the Cromarty Firth, Moray.

Her wound was almost healed and she was behaving like any other five-year-old dolphin.

A researcher from the University of Aberdeen said: "When we first saw her in July, due to the extensive sunburn, dehydration and UV damage from the stranding, we weren't positive about her survival.

"However by September we could see the healing white granulating tissue and new normal pigmented skin and our hopes were raised."

Dr Andrew Brownlow from the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme said it was "a miracle" she had been found in the first place.

A couple spotted Spirtle after setting out to go dolphin-watching at Chanonry Point in northern Scotland and getting lost, ending up at the Cromarty Firth instead.

Spirtle lives in a special conservation area in the North Sea, along with around 200 other bottlenose dolphins.

She is part of a group of dolphins that include her sister Honey and their mother Porridge, and are usually found in the Moray Firth.

Following her rescue on May 29, Spirtle wasn't seen again until July, when researchers spotted her distinctive injuries. At the time, she was on the periphery of her pod.

Now, Spirtle has reunited with her friends and has been spotted helping out babysitting her big sister Honey's calf and frolicking with a male dolphin, Foo.

The researchers are hoping this tough little dolphin will soon have a baby Spirtle of her own.