Rare Turtle Caught In Fishing Net In Brit Hotspot Saved

This is the moment cops rescue a vulnerable turtle caught in a fishing net in a protected area off the coast of Fuerteventura by cutting it free allowing the cute animal to swim away.

The incident took place one mile away from the island of Lobos, a small protected island with a diverse flora and fauna, in the municipality of Fuerteventura, in the south-western Spanish region of the Canary Islands, when the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) was found by a patrol of the Spanish Civil Guard Marine Service.

In the video, the officers can be seen pulling in a fishing net into their boat and the turtle can be seen caught in it.

One of the officers then uses a small knife to carefully cut the turtle loose and it drops back into the water and swims away.

Official sources said the net was around 500 metres long (1,640 feet) and contained hooks.

The video of the rescue was widely commented on by netizens, such as ‘Juliana Luecke’ who wrote: “And so many animals are dying without being able to help them, very sad”.

It is unclear who the net belonged to.

The loggerhead sea turtle is considered a vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

According to the Statistics on Tourist Movements in the Borders of the Canary Islands (FRONTUR-Canarias), over five million British tourists visited the Canary Islands in 2018, the highest nationality. Germany came second with just over three million visitors.