500-pound sea creature tangled in fishing gear rescued off Massachusetts coast
.png "An entangled sea creature was rescued in Cape Cod Bay off the Massachusetts coast.")
A rescue team in Massachusetts saved a 500-pound sea creature that was tangled in fishing gear.
The Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) Marine Animal Entanglement Response (MAER) team was called July 9 to help an entangled leatherback sea turtle in Cape Cod Bay, according to a July 11 news release from the organization.
The “relatively young” turtle got tangled in fishing gear, then dragged the gear into three other sets of gear, the organization said. This caused it to have a difficult time getting to the surface to breathe.
Boaters out fishing found the turtle and called the MAER team.
The boaters stayed with the turtle until the rescue team was able to get there.
The sea turtle was “relatively small” but healthy, the organization said.
A grappling hook was used to unwrap an entangling rope, and a small fishing hook and monofilament line stuck in the turtle’s shoulder were removed.
Leatherback sea turtles are the largest turtles in the world and the only sea turtles that don’t have scales or a hard shell, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“The leatherback has a primarily black, rubbery skin with pinkish-white coloring on its underside,” the website said.
They are endangered and their global population has declined 40% in the last three generations, according to the NOAA.
