MIAMI — A Florida police officer helped free a dolphin in distress last month, freeing the young mammal from a fishing net.
“I got you, buddy,” Officer Nelson Silva of the Miami-Dade Police Department’s marine patrol unit can be heard in a video published Wednesday by the agency.
Silva uses a pole to gently grab the netting around the juvenile dolphin’s body in Biscayne Bay, east of Miami, WFLA-TV reported.
“I got you, buddy”🐬
— Miami-Dade Police (@MiamiDadePD) January 12, 2022
Officer Nelson Silva, of our Marine Patrol Unit, received a call of a dolphin in distress in the Shorecrest area. Officer Silva located a juvenile dolphin that was trapped in a fishing net. Watch the video to see how Officer Silva helped free the dolphin. pic.twitter.com/qI0J2p3zJI
Using a knife, Silva cut away the netting, cursing briefly when he also got cut. The dolphin was not cooperating, splashing in the water, but Silva eventually cut enough of the net so the dolphin could swim away.
The whole procedure took less than two minutes, according to WFLA.
“Got ya, woo hoo!” Silva can be heard saying as the dolphin is set free.
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