Diving in waters near Hawaii recently, a group of photographers were surprised to see a Bottlenose dolphin swim right up to them seemingly in distress.

As they discovered on the night of Jan. 11, the dolphin had a hook embedded in its mouth and fishing line wrapped around one of its pectoral fins, and it was wound so tightly that it had cut into the creature’s tissue.

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Diver and photographer Martina Wing made sure her cameras were rolling when an associate took out a pocket knife and began trying to cut the line away. Amazingly, it did not resist and appeared to be communicating its need for assistance.

Then the dolphin briefly vanished, returning to the surface for air before swimming back down to the divers for more help. It even rolled over to let its new friends get a better angle on the line.

Once they freed the creature from its snare, it sped off into the darkness, leaving behind eight minutes of absolutely incredible video.

This video was aired by San Diego-based KMFB-TV on Monday, Jan. 21, 2013.

San Diego, California News Station – KFMB Channel 8 – cbs8.com

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This video was published to YouTube on Jan. 13, 2013.