Dolphin was wrapped ‘head to tail’ in fishing line for weeks. See the rescue

A bottlenose dolphin calf spent weeks wrapped in fishing gear off the coast of Australia, struggling helplessly against the full-body constraints. Then, experts stepped in and performed a “delicate” rescue operation.

Locals first observed the dolphin in the middle of June, according to a July 25 news release from the Sea World Foundation.

It was “heavily entangled in braided fishing line, with the entanglement hog-tying the dolphin from its head to tail and restricting its swimming ability.”

After additional sightings were reported, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) orchestrated a rescue mission, with multiple organizations, including Sea World, assisting.

“We had crews that drove down from the Gold Coast,” Wayne Phillips, head of marine sciences at the Sea World Foundation, said in a video. “Others flew in for this event.”

With the help of multiple boats and drone operators, the entangled animal was located near Batemans Bay, about 170 miles south of Sydney, on July 24.

Upon arriving at the scene, rescuers “realized that it was a dependent calf,” Phillips said in the video.

In aerial footage, the dolphin can be seen dragging several feet of fishing line, while its mother swam nearby.

Eventually, rescuers managed to free the animal of its bonds, and video footage shows it swimming away.

It was “an absolutely incredible feeling,” Claire Madden, head veterinarian at the Sea World Foundation, said in the video. “We absolutely did change the life of this individual animal today.”

Bottlenose dolphins, which are found throughout the world’s oceans, face threats from entanglements in fishing gear in addition to vessel strikes, habitat alteration, ocean noise and oil spills, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Worldwide, an estimated 300,000 dolphins, porpoises and whales die every year as a result of fishing gear and other discarded material, according to the Marine Mammal Center.

This story was originally published July 25, 2025 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Dolphin was wrapped ‘head to tail’ in fishing line for weeks. See the rescue."