00:00Rescuers from New Jersey's Marine Mammal Stranding Center, along with wildlife officials, police,
00:08firefighters and volunteers have been trying for many hours now to rescue a dolphin that's
00:15stuck in a creek.
00:17He was very strong. He threw his head a lot of times, and anybody that was too close could
00:21have gotten knocked out by his power. This guy didn't care why you were there. He didn't
00:27want any parts of us.
00:28Finally, after multiple attempts to get their net around him…
00:32He just kept coming forward and ran right into my chest.
00:37Now, all they have to do is hold on.
00:42I got him in the headlock right away, and everybody immediately went to different portions
00:46of the body, and that's what secured him enough that he couldn't work his way free.
00:53It takes five men to control the powerful dolphin as they attempt to move him safely
00:59to shore.
01:00They kind of wrapped him up in the net.
01:03Then they called for the stretcher. We handed the stretcher down to the guys in the water,
01:09and they attempted to load him on there, which was a lengthy process, because it didn't
01:13want to go.
01:14Getting the animal onto the stretcher proves to be another challenge.
01:19They were very careful. They didn't want to injure the animal at all.
01:24They were able to get the sling underneath the animal and then kind of get him up.
01:29The dolphin is obviously scared. He's making some noise, but they're doing everything
01:34they can just to make sure he's okay.
01:38The big question now, is he healthy enough to return to the ocean immediately?
01:43A vet makes a thorough examination.
01:46Looking at this dolphin, they realize there's nothing really wrong with this dolphin.
01:51So they load him into their truck and drive him just a few miles down the road to the
01:55Delaware Bay, where he first started his incredible journey.
02:02We walked him. It was quite a few hundred feet we had to walk until we got deep enough
02:06water. We wanted to be at least waist high.
02:11It was low tide, so these poor guys, there's probably 12 of them, just kept walking and
02:15walking and walking.
02:17Luckily, some of the people that were on scene watching gave us a hand, because after a while
02:22your arms start giving out while you're carrying that weight.
02:26When the rescuers are waist high in the water, they open the stretcher.
02:35You just kind of see the dolphin swimming, and he just kind of hung out there for a while.
02:40Then he just swam away.
02:41For the many rescuers and volunteers, it's the perfect ending to an unforgettable day.
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