Wounded Seabird Shows up at Hospital Asking for Help. The Injury Points to Human Activity
Recently in northwestern Germany, a scene unfolded inside the Klinikum Links der Weser hospital that left both doctors and wildlife officials jolting in one part relief and one part concern. Outside the emergency room, someone was desperately knocking on the glass door. When the medical staff rushed to open the door to the visitor, they were horrified to realize that there was a triple fishing hook embedded in a seabird's black body. Firefighters were called for help. Just in the nick of time, they plucked out the hooks, treated the wound, and saved the cormorant. As they released the healed bird back into the wild and watched it flutter over the grounds of the hospital park, they reflected on the threats other birds might be facing at sea. The incident was reported by the Associated Press (AP).
Cormorants love fish, as do humans. And sadly, this time, the humans’ craving for the protein-rich fish caused heavy suffering to the bird, who probably got entangled in a fishing line. Fishhooks are known to cause extreme suffering to the seabirds that often begins with a lot of pain and intensifies to full-blown infections and starvation, all the while. Despite being shy otherwise, the bird had to risk trusting the hospital staff as it approached them for help. “When an injured cormorant does approach humans, it is usually an animal in extreme distress that has lost its natural shyness,” the firefighter department told the outlet.
This isn’t the first case, however, when a cormorant has become a victim of fishing. On Medium, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida reported that a “distressing number of birds” are visiting their facility with fatal injuries caused by fishing lines and hooks. They urged fisherfolk to “have compassion” and not “cut the line and allow the bird to escape.” A bird struggling against a taut line may snap the monofilament line and fly away with the hook.
In December 2019, the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center of California admitted a double-crested cormorant with a fishing hook pierced through the lower bill. The X-ray report revealed a second hook in the throat area, which complicated the treatment. The doctors first removed the hook from the mandible, gave IV fluids, and conducted surgery, per EmerAid.
In June 2025, an Australian Pied Cormorant, often spotted on a Balmoral beach, died from getting entangled in fishing lines and having fishing hooks penetrate its flesh. After the incident, a Taronga Zoo spokesperson shared with Mosman Collective, “In the event of accidentally entangling a bird while fishing, please do not cut the line. Immediately call your local wildlife rescue group.”
Incidents like these are sobering reminders of how much damage recreational fishing can cause to the innocent birds. On a lighter note, a Reddit user commented on the latest incident in Bremen, speculating that the wounded cormorant got lucky as it received all the treatment for free in Germany. If it got injured in the US, it might have to pay thousands of dollars in ER bills, and it wouldn’t receive any insurance coverage since it migrated out of the network.
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