MARCO ISLAND — A boat ride on the Marco River turned into a once-in-a-lifetime adventure after Isles of Capri fire officials said a 600- to 700-pound dolphin jumped into the deck of the boat.
Isles of Capri Fire Lt. Keith Perry said he has never seen anything like he did Sunday. Perry said the call came in at 2:44 p.m. when a charter boat captain called for help after the dolphin had jumped onto the ship and landed on a woman.
When rescue officials arrived on scene, Perry said, they determined that the woman had suffered a sprained ankle. Her name was unavailable Sunday.
However, Perry said they also realized that they didn’t have enough people to carry the dolphin off the boat. Along with Isles of Capri, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Collier County Sheriff’s Office responded.
Rescue officials ended up tying a rope around the tail of the dolphin and slid an immobilizing board under it to help slide the marine mammal toward the end of the boat. Once the dolphin was halfway off the boat, Perry said the rope was removed and the group slid the marine mammal back into the water.
“It seemed to know that we were trying to help,” he said.
Marco Island Academy ribbon cutting
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Comments » 2
deltarome writes:
I noticed that the Wisconsin registered boat had not been properly registered to operate in FL waters.
dc5799 writes:
Do you think maybe the boat got in the dolphins way?
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