Hawksbill turtle killed by fishing line
(CNS): Local divers found a dead hawksbill turtle off the coast of Lighthouse Point on 30 December, the Department of Environment has said. It was found at a depth of about 80 feet with its left front flipper wrapped in fishing line. Hawksbills, which are critically endangered, lay very few nests on our shores and the loss of this turtle is another blow to conservation efforts.
“Lost or discarded fishing line poses a major threat to all sea turtles, especially juveniles, the DoE said in a social media post. “It can entangle them and cut into their skin. The line is virtually impossible to see underwater.”
Urging people to use one of the dozens of fishing line recycling bins provided by the DoE, which are in place at boat launching ramps and some local dive shops, the department said line should not be discarded in the sea or on the beach.
Over the last few years the DoE has shipped hundreds of pounds of line to the US for recycling, but every year turtles are still killed or injured by discarded line. Fishing line can take as long as 600 years to degrade and is a significant threat not just to turtle but other marine life and coastal birds.
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Category: Marine Environment, Science & Nature
Yep. Same here. We started recycling through junk at our condo and they are great. They pick up once a week and they send recycling off island to a facility in Florida. Cut down the massive trash pile by half! Maybe if everyone signed up we could stop piling up trashmore.
Comments are not going where you respond to again.
fisher men…still killing when they are not killing.
I’m a local fisherman and I find that the messiest, most inconsiderate people out on the water are the weekend warriors.
Somebody probably got a huge tangle while trolling and instead of taking the time to untangle the line they just cut it and threw the mess overboard.
When will you people learn……. stop leaving your trash/lines on the beach/in the ocean – dispose of them properly – there are receptacles available for you. You don’t need a PHD to dispose of your OWN rubbish, just common sense (will refrain from saying more on that point!)
Caymanians love killing turtles.
Leave our culture alone.
Leave your culture or you’ll have none, evolve.
Go back to where you come from and worry about your own, I’m sure its a mess or you wouldn’t be here!
Actually we started a turtle farm to preserve them! Yes we do eat them but we also raise them and release them back into the wild to help increase the numbers. I’m sure you’re here because you love what we did this small piece of rock sticking out the ocean and if you dont the airport is open every day so you can go back to wherever you came from. If you can’t afford a ticket just start a GoFundMe and I guarantee Caymanians will support you. Have a safe flight!
Everyday you see them out. Big boats, little boats, hand lines. No one enforcing anything. It’s almost like the government purposely is underfunding conservation efforts….. oh yeah, they are. But build a port cause people will want to come here when nothing is left to do or see. $20 rum punches and some idiot selling a beach chair for $40/hr. Yay Cayman.
The majority of the boats you’ll see out are targeting pelagic fish, which are in no way threatened and would be impossible to wipe out by fishing with hook and line.
The people fishing in 80 feet of water for snapper and grouper (and probably not catching much at all) would be the ones to blame.
And soon the dump will start spilling into the North Sound if it hasn’t already, releasing even more hazardous things into the ocean! Come on CIG, we claim to be the most advanced Caribbean Islands but lack in so many things!
It has.
Unfortunately it already is and its disgusting!
I don’t know about the sites in GC, but in the Brac every time we’ve gone to use the recycling bin it’s jam packed w/garbage. People know better-they’re just too lazy to do better. We try to use the bin for whenever we perform an underwater clean up. We cut the lead & tackle to remove & when we go to properly dispose of it for recycling-some moron has stuffed trash they’ve taken off their boat in the unit specified for the fishing line only. Several yards away is a garbage bin they can put their trash in, but they choose to use the recycle bin because -well they just don’t care.
fishermen…pillagers of the sea. its just take,take, take…
Are you a vegan? Do you eat any type of sea food? Because if you do, you’re the one of the reason fishermen are out there fishing.
But is he/she the reason fishermen can’t clean up after themselves?
It’s not that fishermen purposely leave fishing lines out in the ocean, sometimes lines get snagged on rocks and break or the lines break while reeling in a fish. I’m all for responsibly fishing and environment protection but the best way to guarantee less lines are in the water is to stop eating seafood! No Demand No Supply!
But I’m sure you’ll still put your appetite over the environment.
No we just depend on the sea for a living thats all…
yawn….do something better with your life.
I depend on the sea for living but not A living. You pillage the sea until there will be no living.
If you had the slightest idea how hard we have to work to catch these fish, you’d retract your statement.