Dolphin tangled in crab trap off Texas coast needs rescue. Experts ask public to help

A Texas sealife rescue group is searching for a dolphin in “critical” danger, and they’re asking for the public’s help to find it before it’s too late.

The dolphin has been spotted numerous times in Aransas Bay — gulf waters to the northeast of Corpus Christi — with what appears to be a crab trap wrapped around its body, a picture shared on social media by the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network shows.

“The dolphin is still quite mobile and we have not been able to successfully locate it following reports,” the post said.

If rescuers can’t find the dolphin soon, the tangled fishing gear could cause its death.

“(The situation) is definitely something we would classify as critical,” Heidi Whitehead, executive director of TMMSN, told McClatchy News.

A nonprofit rescue organization, the TMMSN is working with the Texas State Aquarium, and Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens, to locate the entangled animal — but after nearly three days of searching, they haven’t been able to track it down.

Now the group is asking members of the public to keep an eye out for the dolphin, at the beach, when out boating or fishing, and report it to them. And if possible, snap pictures and record video.

“We don’t have a clear picture of what this entanglement involves, but we do know that it looks like it is affecting a good portion of the body,” Whitehead said.

In this case, it’s likely that even the most basic activities like swimming and feeding are now a struggle for the dolphin.

“When you have a crab trap that’s attached, or a buoy or a float, it can cause drag for the animal as they’re swimming through the water,” she said. “It’s really not good for their overall health, and they often do not survive it.”

On top of that, there’s the line itself to contend with, wrapped tight around the dolphin, keeping the burdensome crab trap in place.

Whitehead knows just what fishing line can do from prior rescues and from encounters with scarred sea creatures.

“(The line) does eventually cut through the skin and sometimes it does completely sever limbs off, or the tail off,” she said. “So it definitely can be life-threatening for them.”

If rescuers can find the dolphin, they’ll first assess it, taking pictures and video to determine how severe the entanglement is. From there, they will come up with a plan of action and “likely intervene,” which could mean freeing the dolphin from their boat. On the more extreme end of things, rescuers could also run a net and capture the dolphin in order to disentangle it.

“We’re not at that stage at this point,” Whitehead said. “We’d like to perform a disentanglement effort from our vessel if possible, but we really just need to get a better idea of what the extent is.”

Anyone who spots the dolphin is encouraged to contact the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network’s hotline at 1-800-962-6625.

Members of the public should not try to disentangle the dolphin themselves, the TMMSN warns.

This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Dolphin tangled in crab trap off Texas coast needs rescue. Experts ask public to help."