Turtle cut free of fishing net by fishos

RHYS Shearer and his mates couldn’t believe it when they realised a piece of rubbish in the sea was in fact a turtle wrapped up a net. WATCH THE RESCUE HERE

RHYS Shearer and his mates couldn’t believe it when they realised a piece of rubbish 25km off the coast of Dundee was in fact a turtle wrapped up a net.

Mr Shearer and his friends were out fishing on Sunday around 1pm off the coast of Dundee when they saw a piece of rubbish floating nearby.

He said when they moved closer to collect it they realised it was a small turtle caught in an old fishing net.

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Rhys Shearer and his mates quickly cut the net from the turtle before releasing it back into the ocean. Picture: Supplied

The turtle was unable to dive due to the flotation buoys attached to the net.

The trio jumped to action, scooping the turtle up and cutting it free of the net.

“We were shocked and I thought, ‘far out we better hurry up and cut it free’,” he said.

“I checked it over before we let it go and there didn’t seem to be any scarring so I don’t think it had been wrapped up for too long.”

Once released into the ocean the turtle sped off into the depths.

Rhys Shearer and his mates rescued a little turtle that was caught in a fishing net over the weekend. Picture: Supplied

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He said they often picked up rubbish, and this was the second time he had come across an animal caught in rubbish.

The first time, two years ago was a turtle wrapped in a plastic bag.

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