Lone Italian Swimmer Won't Abandon Turtle Drowning in Fish Net

Written by Roberto Centi of Tuscany, Italy

Last summer I was swimming in the sea of Viareggio (Tuscany) when I saw a fishing net lost at sea with something that stirred in the surface. I went over and saw a large sea turtle, a Caretta Caretta, who was trying in vain to get free.

Fortunately the turtle managed to keep his head out of the water to breathe. I was really surprised to see this animal so near the coast and looked around, but there was nobody who could help.

I decided to try to release the turtle from the fishing net, but it was a very difficult task because the turtle was thrashing in the net and I had to be very careful of his strong jaws. At last, after many attempts, I managed to free him from the net.

As soon as I released the turtle, it swam around me as if to thank me and then sped off towards the deep sea. That turtle was really lucky, because every year many sea turtles die trapped in fishing nets.

Enjoy one more story & photo of a pelican also saved from a fishing net by an everyday hero.

Courtesy of The Great Animal Rescue Chase

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Elizabeth M.

11:54AM PDT on Mar 19, 2012

Roberto you are a hero! I just saw a video of a turtle being rescued from a fishing line, but the fellow was in a kayak. Laws are going to have to be made in regards to just leaving fishin nets in the water. There must be a lot of mammals and birds that suffer this same fate. So happy this turtle had a hero on it's side!