Conservationists partner with the pier to rescue sea turtles at Navarre Beach
NAVARRE BEACH, Fla. (WKRG) – The latest rescue makes two dozen sea turtles saved near the Navarre Beach pier in the past month.
A local conservation group says it mostly sees turtles caught in fishing line. A fisherman at the pier accidentally hooked a sea turtle over the weekend.
“Over the past month, we have had to transport 24 turtles that were hooked and safely brought in to shore,” Cinnamon Holderman said.
The Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center has partnered with the pier workers to make sure more turtles are rescued like this one.
“We came out and talked to the folks here at the pier and the local fishermen and staff at the pier decided to partner with us and go through the training on how to safely bring in a turtle after it’s accidentally been hooked,” Holderman said.
Holderman is a board member for the conservation center and she feeds and takes care of “Sweet Pea.” They don’t want what happened to her to happen to other sea turtles after she was found stranded on Ono Island in 2016.
“She had been entangled in fishing line,” Holderman said. “Her entire left flipper was wrapped so tight that it was later amputated.”
She now lives here permanently and Holderman says this can be prevented.
“A lot of people leave fishing line out on the beach, just picking that up and not letting it fall off the pier into the water.”
She adds that when fishing, avoid cutting the lines and letting the turtle go. She and others at the conservation center hope that other beaches nearby will try to start a partnership just like this one.
source:
Conservationists partner with the pier to rescue sea turtles at Navarre Beach
By freedivinguae