The U.S. Coast Guard released dramatic video showing the rescue of a dolphin near Fort Myers, Florida Thursday evening.
According to a Coast Guard press release, watchstanders received a call around 1 a.m. from a vessel in Back Bay, who reported that a dolphin had jumped onto the dingy attached to their craft and become stuck.
Setting out aboard the 29-foot response boat “Small II,” Coast Guard officials responded to the call along with a biologist from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, who advised them to return the dolphin to the water as quickly as possible.
Seaman Chris Epperson recorded the video, seen above, as Coast Guard sailors managed to free the stranded dolphin and return him to the ocean.
“I am proud of the close coordination between our crews and the professionals at FWC,” Chief Warrant Officer Robert Gruschow, commanding officer of Station Fort Myers Beach, told NBC-2 News.
“Through this co-ordination, we were able to save another life.”