300-pound dolphin fights as rescuers try removing trap off Georgia coast, video shows

A well-intentioned plan to save an entangled dolphin turned into a free-for-all in Georgia after the skittish creature apparently developed trust issues with its rescuers.

Video posted by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources shows it took a four-man crew to subdue the bottlenose dolphin, which soaked them in the process.

Two of the men clung to the “thrashing 300-pound mass of muscle,” the video shows, while a third crewman cut away the tangle of ropes.

All this took place as “her calf was swimming helpless nearby,” Georgia officials said.

“With the weight of the trap pulling her under, she struggled to surface and breathe,” state officials wrote.

”She had managed to roll and twist over 20 feet of rope around her tail,” senior wildlife biologist Clay George said in a news release.

And how did they rescue the trapped dolphin?

“The four-person team followed a basic plan. Snag the line. Control the tail. Loosen and determine where to cut the rope – fast,” officials said. “Slice carefully. All while hanging onto a thrashing 300-pound mass of muscle.”

The dolphin had a small cut on its tail, but appeared to be largely unharmed, the video shows.

It happened Aug. 4 in the marshes near Richmond Hill, a community south of Savannah, officials said. It is believed the dolphin had been trapped less than a day when the state was alerted, DNR officials said.

Dolphins rarely become tangled in fishing gear. The rescue on Aug. 4 counted as the third time this year a dolphin was found tangled in crab trap — and the first time this year one survived such a predicament, officials said.

There have been 29 cases of “confirmed and suspected entanglements” in Georgia waters since 2000, with dolphins dying 43% of the time, officials said.

“Some may be trying to steal the trap bait or playing with the rope or buoy, or maybe they’re accidentally caught as they swim past,” officials said.

“When dolphins are entangled in a crab trap buoy rope, the trap acts like an anchor,” officials said. “As the animal twists, rolls and pulls, the rope cinches tighter around them.”

Bottlenose dolphins can reach 13 feet and weigh 1,400 pounds, according to NOAA Fisheries. They have been known to live as long as 60 years or more.

This story was originally published October 18, 2021 at 2:10 PM with the headline "300-pound dolphin fights as rescuers try removing trap off Georgia coast, video shows."