Man jumps into harbor to rescue seagull from drowning

Oct. 20 (UPI) -- A restaurant worker in Nova Scotia was caught on camera jumping into a harbor to rescue a drowning seagull that was tangled in fishing line.

A video posted to YouTube by user K Ross shows Erik Nolan jumping into Halifax harbor with a flotation device and swimming out to the struggling seagull on Thursday afternoon.

Nolan, a worker at a waterfront restaurant, said the seagull was tangled in fishing line attached to a net between Murphy's restaurant and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

"I took my uniform off right away and jumped into the water. I swam out, made sure it wasn't going to attack me, that it was comfortable with my presence," Nolan told CBC News after the incident.

Nolan swam back to shore with the bird and used a knife borrowed from a security guard to cut the gull's wing free from the line and remove hooks from its feet.

"After I cut it loose, I expected it to fly off, but it kind of just [lay] there," he said. "I thought, 'Oh, no, did I really just jump in the harbor to save a dead bird? Or did I kill it?"

Nolan said the seagull slowly started to show signs of life.

"It stirred a little bit and then it actually turned its head towards me and stared at me," he said. "Part of me wanted to think it was meaningful look, but it might've just been in shock."

Nolan said volunteers took the seagull to a veterinarian. He said he later received a call telling him the seagull had successfully been released.