The sea holds many surprises. For 16-year-old fisherman I Praveen, it came in the form of a gigantic dolphin that got entangled in his net. He was part of a nine-member crew that set out to sea from Thoothukudi on his uncle’s gillnet boat when the encounter happened. “It was around 8am,” recalls Praveen, speaking over phone. “We were at deep sea when the big guy flipped about in our net after getting caught.”
Dolphins are protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and therefore, catching them is a punishable offence in India. “My seniors immediately devised a plan to release it,” says Praveen. What followed was a one-and-a-half hour-long operation. Praveen jumped into the water to tug at the portion of the net that was wound around the mammal’s face.
