Aug. 6 (UPI) -- A family diving trip in Hawaii turned into a rescue mission when the divers cut a whale shark free from some heavy-duty fishing line.

The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, which was first made aware of the distressed whale shark in mid-July, said the animal was tangled in heavy-duty line that was cutting into its body.


The department said Joby Rohrer and Kapua Kawelo were free diving with their son and friend Jon Sprague when they came across the distressed whale shark about 30 feet below the surface of the water off Lanai.

The divers were able to cut through the fishing line and free the whale shark in a rescue they caught on video.

"The whale shark swam calmly through the disentanglement process as the divers removed the heavy rope," the department said. "After the whale shark was freed it stopped swimming back and forth, went into deeper water and swam off."