A few years ago, Simon Lorenz, owner of marine tour company Insider Divers, led a group through the waters surrounding Sri Lanka. While he and the guests were looking for whales, they noticed a pile of debris floating by.
Simon Lorenz / Insider Divers
Whenever Lorenz comes across a clump of trash in the ocean, he makes sure to pause and observe it, because there are often fish or other marine animals around them. But that day, Lorenz noticed something strange about the debris.
“There was this huge shell in there,” Lorenz said in a video for The Dodo.
Simon Lorenz / Insider Divers
As he looked closer, he realized the shell belonged to an olive ridley sea turtle.
“You could see the flippers of the turtle splashing at the surface,” Lorenz said. “I could already see there was something wrong.”
It quickly became clear to Lorenz that the turtle was hopelessly entangled in a fishing net. Unfortunately, the turtle’s predicament is all too common — every year, thousands of marine animals get entangled in discarded fishing nets known as ghost nets, which often leads to serious injury or death.
Simon Lorenz / Insider Divers
Thankfully for this turtle, though, a group of people who wanted to help her spotted her just in time. Lorenz asked one of the trip’s guides to jump into the water and try to cut the turtle free with his knife.
The net the turtle was stuck in was thick and coiled tightly around the animal’s body, so it was difficult for the man to cut through it. Even as the man sawed away at the ropes, the turtle appeared to understand that he was trying to help her.
“The turtle seemed very calm and wanting our help,” Lorenz said. “She wasn’t too stressed out.”
Simon Lorenz / Insider Divers
As the guide worked to free the turtle, he realized he couldn’t do it alone. The tour’s guests, eager to help, jumped into the water to steady the animal while the guide continued cutting away the net.
After nearly 40 minutes of effort, the turtle was finally untangled from the ropes.
“[H]e made sure there was no net left and no injuries, and off she swam,” Lorenz said.
Thanks to the help the turtle received, she got a second chance at life and will spend the rest of her days swimming freely in the open ocean.
Simon Lorenz / Insider Divers
“It was a really good feeling to help this animal,” Lorenz said.
