New Quay dolphins named after Tallie Brazier who died in crash

In Cardigan Bay, bottle-nosed dolphin Tallie and her newborn Summer have been delighting wildlife spotters in recent days.

But few lucky enough to spot the cow and its calf will know they are both named after a 22-year old Sea Watch intern who died a little over four months ago.

Tallie Brazier was killed in a car crash on the A5117 in Elton, Cheshire, on 15 April.

Her mother Adele Nightingale said she would have been incredibly touched by the gesture.

“I just wish she was here to see it,” she said.

Tallie, who was from Oswestry, Shropshire, graduated from Bangor University last year with a degree in Marine Biology with Vertebrate Zoology.

She then spent the summer working as an intern at Sea Watch in New Quay, Ceredigion, where she actually spotted and logged the dolphin that would go on to share her name.

“We would very often get video calls when she was on the boat and there’d be a pod of dolphins behind her and you’d hear squeals of delight and joy at what they’d seen,” said Adele.

Sea Watch is a national marine environmental charity working to improve the conservation of whales, dolphins and porpoises in the seas around Britain and Ireland.

Its flagship project in New Quay monitors Cardigan Bay’s 200 dolphins, the only semi-resident population of bottlenose dolphins in Wales, and the largest in the UK.

Adele said Tallie’s love of sealife began after watching animated film Finding Nemo when she was two or three years old.

Then from junior school she decided she wanted to work with dolphins and began scuba diving at eight. She eventually became a Padi-qualified rescue diver, diving all over the world.

This month she was due to return to Bangor to begin her Master’s in Marine Predator Ecology.

“She had so much to do and so much to live for,” said Adele.

On the day of the crash, Tallie and her boyfriend had been heading out for lunch and a day of shopping.

“It was a very ordinary Monday,” Adele said.

“All the times she’s gone diving 22 metres and I’ve been worried about her, but I did not worry that day.”

Adele was working from home when she received a text message from Tallie’s phone saying it had been involved in a collision.

It included a pin location.

“I tried to phone her straight away, her sister was here and we were both trying to phone her,” said Adele.

“I phoned her dad and he said he’d had [the text] as well.”

The three of them made the 40-minute drive to Elton while desperately trying to get through to Tallie.

But as they got nearer, they realised the road was closed and they could see ambulances and a helicopter ahead.

They made themselves known to the police and were blue-lit to the hospital.

“It was at the hospital while we were in the relatives’ room that the doctor came in and told us that Tallie hadn’t survived the crash,” said Adele.

“I don’t remember a great deal. My younger daughter says that all she can remember is that I was screaming.

“I remember saying to the nurse ‘it should be me, I would take her place’. It felt very surreal.”

She said they were taken to see Tallie to say goodbye.

“I can still see that, I can still see Tallie on the resus table. Then the police talked to us and brought us home,” said Adele.

Months on, the events of that day still don’t seem real.

“I still think she’s going to walk in. I can’t quite take in that this is permanent, that she’s gone forever,” she said.

At Tallie’s funeral, instead of flowers, the family asked for donations and raised almost £3,000.

Then TNS FC in Oswestry, who Tallie had played for as a goalie when she was younger, set up The Tallie Brazier Cup, which raised more than £6,000.

They donated the money to Sea Watch who set up the Tallie Brazier Scholarship, which will fund an intern next year.

Sea Watch then suggested naming a dolphin after Tallie.

“If she was here she’d be absolutely amazed, she would be so touched by that,” said Adele.

Then last week Adele received another call from Sea Watch.

“They got in touch to say the Tallie dolphin has actually got a calf… and they asked us if we would like to name Tallie’s calf,” she said.

They settled on Summer – Tallie’s middle name.

Sea Watch estimates Summer was born between 16 and 19 August as Tallie was seen without a calf on the morning of the 16th and then with a calf on the 19th.

“We are absolutely honoured that Sea Watch came up with the idea and that they have done that for Tallie,” said Adele.

“The outpouring of love and respect for Tallie from the town, from the university, from TNS, from Sea Watch has meant an awful lot to me.

“I’ve always been proud of both of my girls and I’m still proud of Tallie, she’s raising that awareness.”

She said talking and being surrounded by family, work colleagues, friends and Tallie’s friends had been key to processing her grief.

“The best thing anybody ever says to me when I see them is ‘I have no words’,” said Adele.

“I’ve heard a lot of platitudes and I understand that very often they come from places of good intention but the best thing anybody can say is ‘I have no idea how you’re feeling’… it really is one of those situations where unless you’ve walked in these shoes, you really don’t know and cannot even imagine.”

Now, Adele says the the focus is on keeping her intelligent, funny, considerate and affectionate daughter’s memory alive.

“It is really important to me,” said Adele.

“She mattered, she absolutely mattered to all of us and the world has lost a really good person.”