A massive volunteer effort along Florida’s coastline is working to protect endangered sea turtles from one of their most common threats, including accidental hook entanglements at fishing piers and bridges, and the results are making a real difference.
This past week, a team of volunteers from the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center rescued Bowser, a 172-pound loggerhead sea turtle, after he was snagged on a fishing line at the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier. Eight men hauled the turtle, netted and fighting the whole way, nearly 35 feet up over the pier railing using a specialized hoist designed by volunteer Scott Dexter. The whole operation took less than 25 minutes.
It was the 26th turtle rescue from that pier so far this year. A 27th followed just two days later…