A lone dolphin found herself completely stranded in the mud at Everglades National Park, Florida, but the moment that the majestic animal finally managed to get free is absolutely worth watching.
This dolphin’s rescue story is quite a remarkable one, as it took over four hours to get this dolphin back into the water and things looked very dire at first.
A couple of weeks ago, Captain Chris Jones of a small fishing ship came across an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin who seemed to be heavily struggling in a very small pool of water. The captain was with a couple of clients on the ship and all of them immediately realized that the dolphin needed assistance.
Right away, the captain and the passengers did everything they could to try and get this dolphin out of her predicament.
“We were fishing in the flats, and it was maybe 5 to 10 inches,” the captain recalls. “There was a little depression, and she was just lying in there trapped.”
Unfortunately, the cell service at that specific bay area wasn’t optimal, but Captain Jones was able to contact a friend on land, who could then ask for back-up from park officials.
It took two hours before additional help arrived. A specialized DolphinsPlus Marine Mammal Responders team from a local non-profit organization arrived on the scene to help out with the tough rescue.
For hours, the fishing boat crew and clients kept pouring buckets of water on the dolphin to make sure it wouldn’t dehydrate and die.
Will and Maura Palmer, two clients aboard the ship, did everything they could to make the dolphin as comfortable as possible given the circumstances provided.
Luckily, the dolphin responded quite well and definitely seemed to appreciate the help from these good Samaritans.
“She responded well. She was freaking out when we first saw her, but as time went by, she was just saving her energy,” Jones told the Miami Herald. “You see the predator side of them when you’re out here fishing, and now she’s at your mercy. She would nudge me when I stopped petting her, like a dog would. She was just sweet.”
The four-hour rescue was caught on tape, and the moment the dolphin finally gets free is a huge relief for everyone involved.
“My charter fishing company has been around for 13 years. This type of dolphin stranding is very rare. Everyone involved with the rescue were overjoyed when we saw the dolphin swim off healthy,” Captain Jones added.
After the dolphin finally managed to get out of the mud, a vet was brought up to make sure that the dolphin was healthy enough to be released in into water.
The fishing boat crew and the rescue team then took a large plastic sheet and shoved it underneath the animal to carry it into deeper water. It didn’t take long before the dolphin realized she was finally free again, and she peacefully swam away into the vast ocean.
Stories about dolphins getting stuck usually don’t end up with such a positive outcome, but this fishing boat’s determination to keep her alive made the difference.
According to a representative at the Everglades National Park, rescuing a dolphin that has been stuck for hours rarely results in a successful outcome without injuries or worse.
But these people weren’t about to give up on this beautiful dolphin – and she wasn’t about to give up either, even if it took a whopping four hours.
What a fantastic rescue story!
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