A team of 14 volunteers lined up in the canal and made sounds and vibrations to guide the dolphins out to Riviera Bay in Florida, US
A group of volunteers joined forces to form a human chain to free four dolphins who were stranded in a canal for four days.
The mammals, a family including two calves, were spotted in the water near the Fossil Park neighbourhood in St Petersburg, Florida, US, on Sunday.
Experts at the Florida Fish Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) monitored the dolphins’ activity in the past few days in the hope they would swim out with the tide.
But when the dolphins struggled to leave the canal, the brave volunteers joined members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium to form a rescue team to free them.
Drone footage shows a team of 14 volunteers holding hands to act as a barrier to guide the dolphins out of the narrow channel.
They shouted and slapped the water with their hands to direct the dolphins to vast expanses of Riviera Bay.
Dozens of residents gathered take videos and pictures of the kind act.
Andy Garrett, a biologist with the FWC told CNN : “We’re able to keep that chain together.
“The dolphins were interested, they actually came over right away, and kind of investigated.”
Dolphins navigate in the water through echolocation.
That means by emitting high-frequency sounds, they can interpret the echoes of sound waves that bounce off of objects to find their way around.
He added that when the team reached to a bridge, the dolphins appeared a bit nervous and started doing some spins and chuffing.
“They made one real hard pass at our team and then went under the bridge and took off,” Andy said.
The operation lasted about 45 minutes and the rescue team did not have to use nets or any items that could stress the dolphins.
