- A group of fishermen off New South Wales, Australia, freed a 220-pound loggerhead sea turtle that had become wrapped repeatedly in abandoned “ghost gear” rope tied to floating buoys.
- It’s unclear how long the turtle had been trapped before the fishermen spotted it and cut it loose.
- Conservationists say abandoned fishing gear is a recurring, often deadly threat to sea turtles worldwide, with similar rescues recently reported in the U.S. and elsewhere.
A loggerhead sea turtle weighing roughly 220 pounds is free after a group of fishermen spotted it bobbing in the water, wrapped several times over in thick rope.
The ropes were tied to barnacle-covered buoys off the coast of New South Wales, Australia — discarded fishing equipment known as “ghost gear” — and it wasn’t clear how long the turtle had been struggling to free itself.
“Stay still, lady,” he can be heard saying as he cuts it free.
As the turtle swims off, unharmed, the same fisherman lets out a breath: “What a mission!”
Abandoned fishing gear left drifting in the ocean can prove fatal to sea turtles without a rescue like this one. Similar cases have surfaced elsewhere this year: in June, three fishermen in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay freed a 700-pound leatherback turtle after crab-pot buoy lines had wrapped roughly ten times around its neck and flippers.
“It seemed like he was crying for help, and my dad mode kicked in, and I just went right to town,” fisherman Brandon Watts told WAVY TV 10 of that rescue.
“They didn’t ask for all that stuff to be in that water,” Watts added. “So anything you can do helps.”
Marine conservation groups ask that anyone who spots an injured, trapped or struggling sea turtle report it immediately to local authorities or a marine conservation organization, rather than attempting a rescue without guidance.
