Nicholas Tuduri said he used a knife to cut the thick nylon rope, WPLG-TV reported. It was tied to a metal crab cage that could be seen being lifted out of the water in the video, WFOR-TV reported.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “The dolphin was looking with its eye. It was watching us, observing us do what we were doing. And he just let us do our thing.”
Later, a group of dolphins could be seen swimming by the man, perhaps as a sign of gratitude.