A pair of Maine fishermen rescued a young seal that became tangled in fishing gear last week.
Jeremy Willey, 37, a fourth-generation lobsterman based in Owls Head, was fishing about 10 miles south of Matinicus Rock on Friday, July 14, when he spotted something unusual poking out of a piece of ground fishing gear floating on the surface.
As Willey and his sternman, Jeffrey Dorr, 36, of Union, approached, they saw it was the head of a young seal, according to Krystal Gamage, Willey’s girlfriend. Gamage later posted the video of the rescue on Facebook. The post has since garnered more than 1 million views and 20,000 shares.
Door pulled the seal on board their fishing vessel and Willey pulled out a knife. Willey began cutting away the rope, which had wrapped around the seal’s neck. After a couple of minutes of cutting, the seal was free.
“There you go, buddy,” Willey said before he lowered the seal into the water. The seal popped its head up to look at its surroundings before diving and swimming away.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.