A police officer’s body camera has recorded a successful dolphin rescue effort off the Florida coast, and the exact moment he freed the juvenile marine mammal from the fishing net in which it was trapped, back into the ocean.
Officer Nelson Silva, of the Miami-Dade Police Department’s Marine Patrol Unit, responded to a call about a dolphin in distress in the Shorecrest area on Dec 10.
Drawing close to the struggling dolphin in a rescue craft, the officer turned off the engine so as to drift closer without causing injury to the marine animal.
In the footage, Silva leans overboard, grabs onto the fishing net with a long pole, and reaches for his pocket knife to begin cutting away at the tangled strands. The dolphin, initially agitated, wrestles away from Silva’s grip twice and the fishing net cuts the officer’s hand.
However, he still perseveres and can be heard saying: “I got you ... it’s OK little guy,” as he works through removing the fishing net from the dolphin.
The dolphin briefly disappears underneath the boat before resurfacing on the other side. Silva’s third attempt is successful in cutting the net clean away and releasing the juvenile back into the water.
Netizens were impressed by the officer’s dedication and the act of ignoring his own injury in favor of the rescue effort.
