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Failed Turtle Rescue

Drowned turtle hanging upside down entangled in a fishing line
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We heard from some divemasters at our shop about an injured green turtle entangled in a fishing line, swimming around the reef.  Many other dive centers also spotted it but nobody was able to get close enough to help it.
Another dive shop, Alona divers,  all of a sudden organized a get-together on social media with dive centers from Panglao and we all teamed up to go looking for it the next day.
All together we were 8 people from different local dive shops, always willing to help out with projects concerning the environment, among which Alona divers, Piratas, Equation, and ourselves. We split up in 4 buddy teams.  I was assigned to lead the "rescue", by the boat owner.  After a long briefing in which we came up with an action plan and prepared the tools we were going to use to cut the line we jumped in the water.  We did 3 one hour plus dives and scanned a huge area but nevertheless, we could not find it.  With heavy hearts we went back home hoping it would be alright somewhere resting on the reef. A couple of us already decided to go back and look for it again.
I saw about 35 green turtles that day but not the one I was looking for.
The next day we got a message from an instructor friend, Craig (GoScuba) who took pictures of the injured turtle. The reef he saw it  is about 2 km away from where the turtle was last spotted the day before.  Sadly enough what all the divers involved in the rescue dive were afraid that would happen, happened.  The turtle was found hanging upside down on a reef wall, stuck on a coral with the fishing line.  Strangely enough he managed to swim that far.
I believe many divemasters tried to act when they see it but were not sure about how to manage the situation and didn't act.
Hopefully more professionals realize the importance of removing trash in the water and bringing back plastic, fishing nets and lines on normal fun dives. Every plastic bag, line or net we put in our bcd pocket can save a life.

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