A 330-Kilometer Journey: The Urgent Rescue Operation for 'Anmoki' the Dolphin

An Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin named "Anmoki," who has been spotted off the coast of Gangneung since last year, has been safely rescued thanks to the joint efforts of experts. Anmoki had been wandering alone with injuries in an area far from its natural habitat. The production team of the SBS program Animal Farm captured the tense rescue process on camera.

Reporter Son Gijun has the story.



A wild dolphin has been spotted around Gangneung Port since the summer of last year.

It is Anmoki.

[Here it is. Wow, it flipped its belly.]

Growing fond of the dolphin, which frequently enters the port and does not shy away from humans, locals named it after the old name of Gangneung Port.

However, Anmoki turned out to be an Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, a species typically observed only in warm waters such as the coast of Jeju Island.

[Park Gyum-jun / Researcher, Cetacean Research Institute, National Institute of Fisheries Science: I have conducted a lot of dolphin surveys in the East Sea, but this is such a mystery. Why on earth did it end up coming here?]

Furthermore, while dolphins generally live in pods, Anmoki had been living entirely alone in the East Sea, which is not its native habitat.

Experts analyzed Anmoki as a "solitary sociable dolphin"—a cetagonist that has separated from its pod and grown close to humans.

The problem was that because Anmoki's fear of humans and vessels was extremely low, it swam dangerously close to boat propellers, resulting in a large wound on its flank.

[Kim Min-seop / Team Leader, National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea: Both the vessel and the people are in a dangerous situation at the same time. It could collide with a boat or exhibit unpredictable behavior toward humans.]

Ultimately, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and experts captured Anmoki within a restricted zone inside Gangneung Port on June 15.

Afterward, it was loaded onto a vibration-free transport vehicle and successfully moved to a specialized treatment tank in Ulsan following a long-distance transport spanning 330 kilometers.

Anmoki is currently in a stable condition and is scheduled to be released back into the wild after expert consultation once its health recovers.

The full process of the tense rescue operation for Anmoki will be revealed on SBS Animal Farm, airing tomorrow morning on August 16.

(Video: Shin Se-eun, Design: Park Tae-young, Footage courtesy of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.