Out on the open water near Nantucket, a group of friends were working aboard a boat when they spotted something strange dangling from the rigging.
At first, it looked like a scrap of fabric caught in the wind. But then it flapped — frantically.
A seagull had gotten itself tangled on a fishing hook and was now hanging helplessly, twisting and struggling in midair.
There was only one way to reach him: by inching out across a long, narrow beam with nothing beneath but open ocean. In other words — someone had to walk the plank.
Without hesitation, Alex Earle stepped forward.
“We just had a couple sharks circling,” one of the guys said in a video later posted by The Dodo. “Don’t fall, dude!”
Carefully balancing, Earle made his way toward the bird. The seagull had flown into the stay wire and become completely ensnared. Still, Earle stayed calm, talking softly as he worked to free him.
“It’s awesome you’re doing this for this poor bird,” one of his friends called out from behind the camera.
Earle managed to detach the wire from the boat — but the hook was still embedded deep in the gull’s nostril. Gently, he carried the frightened bird onto the deck so they could help him safely.
The gull squirmed and nipped nervously, but Earle didn’t back down. After a few careful maneuvers, he finally freed the hook — and the seagull was safe.
The bird rested on the boat for a few minutes, gathering his strength, before stretching his wings and soaring off into the sea breeze.
Earle watched him go, smiling. “Good deed for the day,” he said simply.
No one got hurt. No one got wet. And one lucky seagull got a second chance — thanks to a man brave enough to walk the plank.
