Returning the Favor

Every now and then there's a story about dolphins saving a drowning swimmer or someone who is close to being a shark's lunch.

This time, a dolphin asked for help in return.

From NBC...

When a dolphin needed help off the coast of Hawaii, he was determined to let a scuba instructor know. 

Laros, who has done more than 10,000 dives, quickly knew something was wrong. When the dolphin circled by him again, Laros noticed he had a fishing line hooked onto his fin. 

Laros gestured with his hand for the dolphin to come close. "I said, 'come here,' and he swam right up to me," he said. "I put my hand out and I was able to get the fishing hook out of his left pectoral fin. The fishing line came from his mouth down through the hook in the left pectoral fin, and then was wrapped all the way around the pectoral fin and it trailed off down the side of the animal." 

Laros was able to remove the hook from dolphin's fin, but still needed to get him untangled from the line. As the dolphin patiently floated inches in front of him, Laros took out dive tools that he carries in his suit, including a pair of small scissors. 

He was able to clip the line off of the dolphin's mouth and fin, but there was still a little left. The dolphin went up for a breath of air and came back down.