In early July, a group of fishermen was boating off the coast of New South Wales, Australia when they spotted a 220-pound loggerhead sea turtle bobbing in the water, wrapped several times over in thick ropes.
The ropes were connected to barnacle-covered buoys, and it was unclear how long the sea turtle had been struggling.
“Stay still, lady,” one fisherman can be heard saying on video as he cuts the tangle of ropes wrapped around the sea turtle.
As the sea turtle finally swims free, the same fisherman can be heard breathing a sigh of relief: “What a mission!”
Abandoned fishing gear, also known as “ghost gear,” can prove deadly to sea turtles without intervention.
And unfortunately, stories like this are all too common.
In June, while fishing in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay, three fishermen spotted a 700-pound leatherback sea turtle struggling in the water.
Despite 20 mph winds, they carefully maneuvered their boat close enough for fisherman Brandon Watts to cut away crab pot buoy lines that were wrapped around the turtle's neck and flippers about ten times.
“It seemed like he was crying for help, and my dad mode kicked in, and I just went right to town,” Watts said in an interview with WAVY TV 10.
Once freed, the turtle swam away safely.
“I’ve been fishing since I was a little kid, but I’ve never seen a turtle in distress like that,” Watts’ friend, Travis Cullipher, said.
“They didn’t ask for all that stuff to be in that water,” Watts added. “So anything you can do helps.”
In April, an 8-year-old girl vacationing in South Carolina spotted a sea turtle hooked to Oak Island’s Ocean Crest Pier. It ended up being a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, which is widely considered the most endangered sea turtle in the world.
The family soon called the Oak Island Sea Turtle Protection Program, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization, which came to unhook the sea turtle.
“A big thank you to Katie and her family from Spartanburg, SC, for calling us to make sure the turtle was ok,” the nonprofit posted on Facebook on April 17. “We assessed the turtle, checked him for tags, got some great data for the state, and released him immediately.”
If you see a sea turtle that appears injured, trapped, or struggling, immediately report it to local authorities or a marine conservation organization.
Call 1-800-SEATURTLE or use the NOAA Fisheries Stranding Contact Page to find 24-hour hotlines for your region.
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Featured Image: Ukanda/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
