SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Humane Society called for San Diego Fire-Rescue to help save an adult osprey hanging upside down in a tree in Mission Bay Park Thursday morning.
The bird was spotted hanging precariously 80 feet high in the tree stuck by fishing wire to a branch. The location of the tree is in Mission Bay Park near the Hilton Hotel.
We're told several other agencies were requested, but none had the equipment necessary to free the bird that high.
"SDFD crews tried a couple of different options but eventually used the aerial ladder on truck 20 and two firefighters to perform the rescue."
The rescue was all captured on video as firefighters clipped the line attached to the tree. Credit San Diego Fire-Rescue.
Once free, the bird appears to happily fly away.
Ospreys are large fish-eating sea hawks known for their ability to plunge feet first into the water grasping prey with its talons according to Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
The osprey population in the United States was nearly wiped out due to the widespread use of the pesticide DDT after World War II.
CBS 8's Neda Iranpour recently profiled a new osprey camera installed at the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier with a view of two nesting birds.
Watch: Osprey cam goes live at the Scripps pier, giving viewers hope