Dolphin Calf Rescued From Crab Trap By Clearwater Beach Lifeguards

CLEARWATER, FL — A little dolphin calf is under the care of the dolphin care center in SeaWorld Orlando after being found off Clearwater Beach entangled in rope attached to a crab trap.

Around noon on Wednesday afternoon, Justin West, a member of the Clearwater Fire & Rescue Department's beach lifeguard team, was on duty at the Tower 5 lifeguard station when he noticed something looked amiss at near Pier 60.

He saw what appeared to be an adult dolphin circling the area and then saw an object bobbing in the water nearby.

West grabbed his rescue board and paddled out to discover a young dolphin tangled in the rope of a crab trap.

West tried cutting the rope with a pair of shears he had on him, but the dolphin was firmly entangled around the calf, so West summoned help from fellow lifeguard Scott Mattis.

Both lifeguards were in water deeper than they could stand up in, so West helped keep the dolphin from struggling and injuring itself while Mattis cut the dolphin free with a knife. They quickly relocated the dolphin to more shallow water where they could stand and assist the animal as lifeguard Georgia Toney joined them.

While West and Toney supported and calmed the dolphin calf, Mattis was able to use a knife to free the dolphin from the rest of the rope that was wrapped several times around the calf's tail.

As fellow lifeguards summoned help from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Toney, West and Mattis stayed with the dolphin, soothing the distressed calf and making sure it wasn't washed ashore.

When the aquarium rescue team arrived, they took over the care of the baby dolphin while the lifeguards kept the growing crowd of spectators back.

Meanwhile, the rescue team attempted to reunite the baby with its fretful mother who kept watch from nearby. But each time the team released the little calf, it swam toward shore.

Eventually, the mother dolphin left the area. The team followed her in a boat and attempted again to reunite the mother and baby, but the calf exhibited problems swimming in the open water.

As the afternoon wore on with no luck reuniting the dolphin and her calf, the rescue team contacted the Southeast Stranding Network of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which advised the rescuers to transport the baby to the dolphin rehabilitation center at SeaWorld Orlando, the closest authorized Marine Mammal Stranding Network facility that the room to take on another dolphin for rehabilitation.

The aquarium said the center will make sure any injuries the calf may have suffered from the rope heal properly and the calf regains its ability to swim in open water before hopefully returning the baby dolphin to Clearwater Beach to reunite it with its mother and dolphin pod.

"In most cases, release after rehab is ideal," said the aquarium in a statement. "Calves spend the first few years learning life skills necessary to survive in the wild, therefore, experts will discuss if this option is a viable one for this individual animal."