Bowser, a male loggerhead, was “foul-hooked” and found with three fishing hooks stuck in and on his body upon its rescue
NEED TO KNOW
- Volunteers rescued a 172-pound loggerhead sea turtle named Bowser after it was foul-hooked on a Florida fishing pier
- The Navarre Beach pier is a hotspot for turtle entanglements with 26 rescues already recorded there in 2026
- Bowser is recovering at a rehab center where vets removed multiple fishing hooks from his body and esophagus
Eight men gripped a rope on the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier and hoisted a 172-pound loggerhead sea turtle some 35 feet above the Gulf of Mexico.
According to Inside Climate News, the rescue took place on Sunday, June 7, when the male turtle, later named Bowser, had been foul-hooked near his left front flipper by a fisherman casting off the pier. Within 25 minutes, volunteers from the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center guided the animal into a rescue net and loaded him onto a Kawasaki UTV. Bowser thrashed on his way to the rescue facility, which a volunteer described as a positive sign.
“That’s a good sign,” said Cheri Dexter, one of the volunteers who led the rescue. “If they’re lethargic or just lying there, that’s a bad sign.”…