A Cuban in Miami experienced moments of distress upon discovering that a dolphin was trapped in a net and struggling to stay afloat in the waters of North Bay Village, and thanks to the footage captured with his drone and a call to 911, authorities were able to locate the animal and free it.
The protagonist of the story is Ahmed Raúl Pérez, a content creator associated with the Instagram profile ARPP Air Studio | Drone & Video, Photography Miami, who shared a video of the moments of tension he experienced alongside his wife.
The rescue took place this Wednesday in Biscayne Bay and was also documented by local channel WSVN 7News.
It all began when Pérez's wife observed from the window of their apartment that a dolphin was behaving strangely.
The animal remained practically in the same spot and seemed to have difficulty moving.
The couple, concerned about what was happening, decided to observe it more closely.
"This was the exact moment when my wife realized the erratic behavior of that dolphin," Pérez explained in the video he shared on social media.
The Cuban then used a drone equipped with a 360-degree camera to examine the animal from the air. The images allowed him to discover that something was wrong.
«I take out the drone, I see something very strange, like it wasn't moving from its spot, I turn around and it exactly had something tied to its tail, something that wouldn't let it rise to the surface, it wouldn't let it swim,» he recounted.
The situation was concerning because the dolphin had its tail trapped and had to struggle to keep its head above water.
"I quickly told my wife: call the police. We dialed 911 and I continued watching it. The poor dolphin was struggling to come up for air; it couldn't breathe," he recounted.
While they awaited the arrival of the agents, the Cuban continued to monitor the animal's movements using his aerial recording equipment.
Later, he used another drone, a DJI Mavic, to keep track of the exact location of the dolphin and to facilitate its identification from the rescue boats.
According to WSVN, maritime patrol units from the North Bay Village Police and the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office arrived at the scene within minutes.
From the water, the agents had difficulty identifying the dolphin, but Pérez's aerial images allowed them to track its position and guide the boats.
Other neighbors also assisted by indicating to the rescuers where the animal was located.
Once located, several members of the maritime units entered the water and managed to remove the net that was trapping the dolphin's tail.
The rescue had a favorable outcome: the animal was freed and managed to swim away into deeper waters.
The authorities of North Bay Village informed the local media that the dolphin apparently had not suffered any injuries.
For Pérez, who had followed every movement of the animal during the emergency, seeing it swim again was a moment of great relief.
In statements to WSVN, the Cuban acknowledged that he was moved to tears upon realizing that the agents had managed to save him.
The audiovisual creator also shared images after the rescue, showing the dolphin moving through the waters of the bay once again.
"My face says it all, but I want to share a few moments after their rescue," she expressed in the video posted on Instagram.
The episode highlights the dangers that nets, lines, and other fishing materials pose to marine wildlife, especially when they are abandoned or lost in the water.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warns that these materials can become entangled around the fins, tail, or other parts of the animals' bodies, hindering their movements and, in some cases, preventing them from coming up for air.
The federal agency recommends that individuals who encounter a stranded dolphin immediately notify specialized rescue services and maintain a safe distance, without attempting to free the animal on their own.
In Florida, these situations can be reported to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) at 888-404-3922, or to the NOAA regional marine mammal rescue network at 877-942-5343.
An incident involving fishing materials occurred in August 2024, when a lemon shark became entangled in fishing line off a beach in Sunny Isles, Miami-Dade. On that occasion, several individuals managed to free the animal and return it to the sea.
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