Lifeguards say dolphin 'thanked' them for rescuing it from tangled rope

Oceanside, Calif. -- A sweet video captures the moment when two lifeguards in Southern California set a dolphin free. It had been tangled up in a braided nylon twine that had a beer bottle caught up in it.

"We're good?" "Good." "Let him go!" the lifeguards can be heard saying in the video as the dolphin is released.

One of those lifeguards, Ryan Thompson, described to ABC 10 News how aware the dolphin seemed to be of the situation. He said the dolphin seemed to understand they were there to help, and he even believes it thanked them.

"It did a quick 180 and it came between Greg and I. And I was about three feet from it and it actually looked up at me and Greg. Back and forth," Thompson described the moment.

"Its head was going side to side, from about 3 to 5 seconds it was looking at us," he said. "And then slowly swam away, right underneath our boat."

Several witnesses said that prior to the rescue, the 6-foot dolphin seemed distressed and exhausted. News 10 reported that the dolphin suffered a small cut in its tail, but other than that didn't seem to have any injuries.

Thompson said they did everything they could to help the dolphin physically and otherwise.

"I was just patting it on its back, 'Calm down, calm down,' trying to talk to it," he said. "I don't know if they can hear me or not. It just seemed like a natural thing to do."