Pregnant diver jumped in to help a bleeding dolphin struggling beside her boat — moments later, entire pod surrounded her for a heartwarming reason
Nature often creates moments so extraordinary that instinct takes over before fear ever has a chance. A pregnant woman, Nicole Isaacs, experienced it firsthand when a distressed dolphin appeared beside her boat, seemingly asking for help. What followed felt almost unreal. Isaacs (@nicoleisaacsofficial) shared the video on January 28, 2026, on TikTok, which has since racked up 13.3 million views. She was out on the ocean with another woman when the bleeding dolphin approached them, visibly in pain. She realized something was wrong and decided to dive in to save it.
@nicoleisaacsofficial the most insane day of my life on the ocean. I trusted my instincts and did what I thought was right, and I’m glad I did. I don’t advocate to touch wild animals but I do think some circumstances are necessary and ok. It was very clear this dolphin was struggling and in a lot of pain, and based on her reaction afterwards as well as the entire pod, I know I made the right decision. Dolphins are incredible animals and so intelligent—the fact that this also happened while pregnant was once in a lifetime 🩵🙏🏽✨🥹🐬 #dolphins #wilddolphins #wildliferescue #dolphin #fyp ♬ You Make Me Feel Good - Original Mix - Satin Jackets
According to the video, the women realized that the wild dolphin had two suckerfish attached to it, and they were eating into its flesh. Isaacs revealed that it was rare for the fish to attach to dolphins, which was why it was in pain. The video showed the women reacting in panic and concern as they noticed visible injuries on the dolphin. Unsure how to proceed, both women hesitated before entering the water. Isaacs asked the other woman, “Should I get in with him?” Despite being pregnant at the time, she trusted her instincts and entered the water to check whether the remoras could be removed safely. The dolphin was “convulsing from the pain.” They attempted to gain its trust. “She began to fully cooperate and turn over for us to make it easy to grab the remoras,” the overlay text of the video read.
As Isaacs swam closer, the rest of the dolphin pod surrounded the group from a distance. It was hard to grab the fish as they were sneaky. At one point, Isaacs swam a captured remora back toward the boat so it wouldn’t reattach. What happened next nearly caused her to panic. When she was handing over the fish to the captain, it slipped out of his hand and got attached to her. “I was pregnant and freaking out,” she said.
Moments later, the remora swam back and reattached itself to the same dolphin. After multiple attempts, they finally succeeded in removing remoras from the dolphin. Soon after, the dolphin’s behavior shifted dramatically. “She started to jump for joy,” the overlay read. “All the dolphins reappeared out of nowhere and swam around us to celebrate.” In the caption, Isaacs reflected on the experience, calling it “the most insane day of my life on the ocean.”
She added that while she does not advocate touching wild animals, she believed the circumstances warranted intervention. The response of the entire dolphin pod reassured her that she had made the right decision. The video struck a chord online, with many viewers sharing their opinions in the comment section. “A totally untrained dolphin cooperating and letting you tend to her just out of sheer trust and desperation, wow, I’m just shook,” expressed @alanalwagner. @mkbu218 noted, “The fact that the dolphin knew to just twist in the direction of your hand placement.” @kayt_24 mentioned, “Animals know. Thanks for helping that baby.”
You can follow @nicoleisaacsofficial on TikTok for more content.
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