Two lobstermen in Maine earned a name for themselves as harbor heroes after a video was posted to social media showing the pair rescuing a baby seal tangled in a rope of plastic fishing nets.
The men hauled the pup aboard the boat shortly after, where they began cutting apart the nets with a knife.
Willey and Door can be heard during the process saying, ‘He’s breathing a little’ while unraveling the rope and relieving the seal’s head, adding, ‘There you go little fella,’ followed by, ‘Should we feed him?’
Lobstermen rescued a baby seal trapped in fishing nets miles beneath Matinicus Rock over the weekend.
Lobstermen Jeremy Willey and Jeffrey Door recorded the heartwarming footage on video.
After a short period of time, one of the men patted the seal momentarily before releasing it back into the water.
The video post, which has received over 1 million views and 11,000 likes on Facebook as of Tuesday, attracted viewers who expressed their gratitude to the patient lobstermen in the comments section.
One user wrote, ‘Thank you for your kindness makes one realize just what plastic is doing to sea life.’ While another said, ‘Thank you Jeremy and Jeff! The world needs more people like you.’
Door and Willey said in a statement to WMTV they were shocked by the widespread attention the footage received over the internet, as they were simply doing their job.
The seal was released into the water following the process.