Rescuers in South Korea Mobilize to Save Entangled Dolphin Calf

JEJU, Apr. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – A young dolphin calf ensnared in derelict fishing gear faces a life-threatening predicament, prompting urgent rescue efforts set for April 8 off the coast of South Korea’s Jeju Island.

The stranded calf, nicknamed “Jongdali,” is a southern bottlenose dolphin less than a year old that was first spotted in November trailing knotted lines from its tail, according to the National Institute of Fisheries Science’s Cetacean Research Institute.

A Jeju dolphin emergency rescue team plans to use a large net to carefully capture Jongdali from the waters near Daejeong-eup, an area it frequently visits, and attempt to remove the entangled debris. If the effort fails, the team says it will explore other rescue methods.

Jongdali, a helpless southern right dolphin calf, lies motionless. (Image provided by DocuJeju and Jeju National University Dolphin Research Team)

Haunting footage shows the juvenile dolphin calf laboring to swim while towing the fishing lines. During emergency efforts in late January, rescuers managed to cut away about 2.5 meters of line weighing 196 grams with attached seaweed growth from the tail area.

However, around 30 centimeters of line still remains caught in the tail, continuing to accumulate more seaweed. Lines are also wrapped around the dolphin’s snout and body.

Director Lee Jung-joon, aka Dolphin Man, holding a fishing line that was hanging from Jong-dal’s tail and preventing him from moving properly (29 January) (Image courtesy of Jeju Dolphin Rescue team)

Monitoring by researchers from Jeju National University has revealed increasingly alarming behavior in recent days. On April 6, the calf was observed floating stationary and rolling over more than 10 times for one to three minutes at a time.

“This baby dophin was displaying much more serious behavior than just circling in the area,” said Kim Byeong-yeop, a professor on the university’s dolphin research team who has pushed for an urgent capture and disentanglement attempt using enclosure nets.

The calf’s range has also dramatically shrunk to just a 3.5 kilometer stretch of coastline near Daejeong-eup as it struggles alongside its mother.

Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)