No one goes to the beach expecting to rescue a hurt animal. Most of us go in the hopes of getting a sweet tan! However, when beachgoers across a Spanish coast noticed an animal that was in serious distress they didn’t hesitate to help.

20. Dolphins

Most rescue stories involving dolphins typically involve a drowning human and a dolphin swimming over to rescue them. Dolphins are highly intelligent creatures as they are one of the smartest animal species on Earth. However, this time the script changed…

19. The Beach

On a beautiful beach in El Buzo, Spain, beachgoers were enjoying a very sunny day. Everyone was splashing around in the water or tanning along the beach. Then, suddenly, people began to notice something odd. 

18. In The Distance

As they were sunbathing and swimming around, beachgoers promptly noticed a dolphin a bit away from shore. Everyone was shocked by its appearance and many were in awe of it. However, the dolphin then began to do something abnormal.

17. Swimming Closer

The people that were paying attention to the dolphin quickly noticed that it was swimming closer and closer to shore. One of the individuals to notice this was Inés Oliva Pérez, who noticed that the dolphin was getting stuck in the surf.

16. A Crowd

As Pérez started to get closer to the dolphin, a small crowd of people became interested too and surrounded the area. Everyone thought that the dolphin was just coming over to say hi! However, they soon realized there was a terrible reason behind its visit.

15. Hurt

Pérez quickly noticed that the poor dolphin was hurt! The dolphin’s mouth was tangled in a fishing line. It had no way of removing the line from its mouth…

14. Asking For Help

“It seemed she came to ask for help,” Pérez later wrote online. As the dolphin laid out on the sand, Pérez and the others quickly sprung into action. They knew they had to save this poor dolphin!

13. Saving It

A few attempts were made to loosen the fishing line and remove it. Eventually, they were able to fully remove the line from the dolphin’s mouth. Everyone cheered!

12. Carried

The crowd then helped to carry the dolphin back out to sea. From there she floated in the water and lingered around for a bit, looking back at the crowd of people that had just saved her life. Many thought she was saying thanks.

11. Two Other Dolphins

In the distance, Pérez could see the dolphin swimming over to two larger dolphins out in the distance. They all continued to linger in the water together and stared back at the crowd of beachgoers. Pérez thought they were all saying thanks.

10. Video Footage

Pérez was able to capture the entire rescue on video which was later uploaded onto Facebook. “It was super emotional…I still get goosebumps when I think about it,” Pérez said about the situation. However, as amazing as this is, this isn’t the first time a dolphin was smart enough to ask for a human’s helping hand!

9. Hawaii

Keller Laros was diving off the coast of Hawaii having fun exploring the underwater sea creatures. Everything was going as planned until he was approached by an unexpected sea creature. So who came over to him?

8. In Distress

A dolphin swam up to Laros and it was in serious trouble. At first, Laros couldn’t understand why the dolphin was coming up to him. Then he noticed the hook…

7. Tangled Up

It seems that the poor dolphin had gotten itself tangled up in some old fishing gear. The dolphin swam over and showed Laros exactly where the hook was. Laros quickly removed it but that still wasn’t enough.

6. A Line

Even though he had successfully removed the hook, there was still a fishing line remaining. So Laros reached into his belt to pull out a pair of scissors. The dolphin stood by patiently as he began to cut the line.

5. Free

Once Laros had managed to cut the dolphin free from the line, the dolphin was ecstatic. It was so excited in fact that it quickly swam away back into the deep ocean. Laros felt a sense of accomplishment.

4. First Dolphin

Laros, who cofounded the Manta Pacific Research Foundation, a manta ray protection group, has stated that although he has rescued many animals before this was the first dolphin. You won’t believe what other animals he’s approached…

3. A Shark

“I have removed hooks and fishing lines from many manta rays, a few turtles,” he said. “[I] even tried a shark once. The shark was not successful.”

2. Dangerous

Although it can be pretty dangerous to approach a sea creature to help it out, things change when they approach you. It is obvious that dolphins are quite the intelligent species when it comes to problem solving!

1. Lucky Dolphins

Both of these dolphins were very lucky to run into humans that were willing to help them out. Now they both get to enjoy the rest of their lives in the deep blue sea.