Rescuers save 400-pound sea turtle tangled in fishing gear off Cape Cod

The massive leatherback turtle was found quickly in the waters off Barnstable.

Rescue teams successfully saved the life of an approximately 400-pound sea turtle after finding it entangled in fishing gear in Cape Cod Bay.

The Barnstable harbormaster, staff members from the New England Aquarium, and a team from the Center for Coastal Studies responded to the waters off Barnstable last Thursday to help the leatherback turtle. The 6-foot-long animal had luckily avoided serious injury, and rescuers arrived quickly, the aquarium’s Director of Animal Health Melissa Joblon said in a statement.

“The turtle had a rope entanglement around the shoulder region of its right front flipper, but fortunately it was detected quickly and the gear was still loose with minimal damage to the flipper,” Joblon said. “Overall, the turtle appeared healthy, active, and in great body condition, so we suspect it will do very well after release.”

After the turtle was disentangled, it was given a health exam that included bloodwork. Satellite and acoustic tags were then attached to it so that it could be monitored after release. The acoustic transmitter, which the aquarium compared to an EZ pass transponder, enables the turtle to be detected from up to 10 yards away by underwater receivers that are in place all along the East Coast. The satellite tag will allow researchers to monitor the animal’s movements and dive behavior in real-time for up to a year.

Scientists have dubbed the leatherback “Phinney.” It can be followed by the public through an online tracker operated by the aquarium.

Leatherbacks are the world’s largest sea turtle species. Highly migratory animals, they roam oceans around the world. Some have been known to swim 10,000 miles a year between where they nest and forage. The global population has decreased 40% over the last three generations, according to the aquarium. Accidental capture in fishing gear is the top risk they face, but leatherback populations are also threatened by vessel strikes, the harvesting of their eggs, and the degradation of nesting habitats.

Kara Dodge, a scientist at the aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, has studied leatherbacks since 2007. A recent project focuses specifically on fishing gear entanglements.

“It’s critical that we understand the outcomes of leatherback sea turtles after they’re disentangled from fishing gear,” Dodge said in a statement. “We’re using satellite and acoustic tags to monitor their post-release survival and behavior over time. One tag will give us real-time information so that we can keep a watchful eye on this turtle while it’s inhabiting our busy coastal waters this summer and fall.”

Every year, hundreds of much smaller green and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are saved by researchers after they get trapped in the cooling waters of Cape Cod Bay. They are rehabilitated at a “sea turtle hospital” in Quincy and released back into the ocean. Earlier this month, six critically endangered sea turtles were released from West Dennis Beach.

Any boaters who see whales, sea turtles, or other marine animals entangled or in danger should contact the Marine Animal Entanglement Response team at the Center for Coastal Studies by calling 1-800-900-3622.