Entangled dolphin at Tangalooma

The Sea World Foundation team conducted an intricate rescue operation to successfully remove a fishing line entanglement from Comet, a young bottlenose dolphin at Tangalooma Island Resort on Sunday 8 January.

Comet is a regular animal to the Tangalooma wild dolphin feeding program and their team had spotted the four-year old male with the fishing line entangled around his fluke during the feed on Saturday 7 January.

Sea World Head of Marine Sciences, Wayne Phillips said the rescue operation was a coordinated effort with the Tangalooma Eco Centre’s Dolphin Care team.

“Our experienced marine mammal team and vet travelled to Tangalooma to meet with their on-site team to catch Comet and conduct the operation to successfully remove all of the entanglement” he said.

“It was incredibly rewarding to remove the entanglement and watch Comet swim off strongly following the operation and return to the wild dolphin feeding program.

“We have a great relationship with the Tangalooma Dolphin Care team and are proud to be in the position to provide our expertise to assist them and the animals who reside in the area.”

Sea World Head Veterinarian, Dr Claire Madden conducted the surgery to remove the entanglement and said it was important to intervene early before any further damage could occur.

“We successfully removed all of the entanglement from Comet’s fluke and thankfully there was only superficial damage to his fluke which we expect to fully heal,” she said.

“While we were in a fortunate position to intervene and assist Comet on this occasion, sadly there are many marine animals who succumb to these types of injuries and this would have been the outcome for Comet without our help.

“We are seeing an increase of animals coming into our care with injuries due to human impacts and are encouraging everyone who utilises the marine environment to do so in a responsible manner.”

Tangalooma Island Resort’s Dolphin Feeding Program Manager, Sue Hassard confirmed how appreciative they were of the prompt attendance from the Sea World Foundation team to perform this life-saving rescue.

“We are so thankful to the Sea World Foundation team for coming across to Tangalooma at such short notice to attend to Comet’s injuries and perform this life-saving intervention,” she said.

“Comet is one of our youngest dolphins - an extremely boisterous male, so it was heart-breaking to see him come in the previous night entangled in fishing line. Without their swift intervention, the outlook for him was not overly positive - we are so grateful to the Sea World marine mammal team for their crucial assistance with our dolphins.”

The Sea World Foundation Rescue Team are on call 24 hours every day, 365 days a year should a marine animal need rescuing. For more information visit https://seaworld.com.au/foundation/rescue