Cut Loose and DeadPhotograph courtesy Projeto Tamar Brazil, Image Bank
Many sea turtles that are drowned in fishing nets are cut loose and wash ashore, such as this turtle in a file photo taken in Brazil. Small-scale fishers, in particular, tend not to have room on their boats–or time–for entangled turtles, according to Wallace.
"It is really tricky," he said. "You can imagine if you are a small-scale fisherman and your gillnet is your meal ticket and you've got a big leatherback that's stuck and entangled in this thing–you are risking your own life trying to free the turtle." |