Two police officers came to a seal’s rescue in Washington state Monday after the animal was found trapped in plastic on the beach.
Local resident Steve Hill captured the rescue in Ocean Shores, Wash., on video, which shows the two officers working together to free the frightened seal from what appears to be a plastic fishing net.
One of the officers, Sgt. Kyle Watson, jumped right into action and started cutting through the netting, while his partner Chris Elia held the net away from the animal to make sure it didn’t get caught again.
“I figured if the animal went back in the water, it was going to die,” Sgt. Watson told Seattle’s King 5 News. “There’s no way it’s going to keep surviving in the water the way it has been.”
The video shows Sgt. Watson repeatedly reassuring the seal as he kept cutting through the net. To get the plastic off the animal’s neck, Elia used a catch pole to keep its head down while Watson cut the last piece of the netting loose.
Finally freed, the seal immediately made its way back to the safety of the ocean.
The rescue took close to four minutes, but Sgt. Watson said it was the least he could do.
“I just hope there’s someone there to cut me loose when I need it,” he said.