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Loggerhead Turtles Caught in Fishing Nets Returned to the Wild

Two loggerhead turtles were returned to the sea in San Clemente del Tuyú, Argentina, on March 21 following accidental capture in local fishing nets.

Mundo Marino shared images and videos of the turtles’ release on March 25, writing that one of the turtles had originally been rescued in January with a severe infection in its nostril, resulting in an abscess in its upper respiratory tract. The turtle’s rehabilitation process took two months, during which the Mundo Marino team regularly cleared the turtle’s nostrils of infectious fluid.

Both turtles released on March 21 were rescued by local fishermen, Roberto Ubieta and Alejo Vera, who work alongside Mundo Marino in San Clemente del Tuyú. The fishermen bring any turtles accidentally caught in fishing nets to Mundo Marino, and have rescued 16 in total to date in 2019. Mundo Marino wrote that 10 of these turtles had defecated ingested ocean plastic during their rehabilitation. Credit: Mundo Marin via Storyful