While on his way for a charter pick-up, Red Sail boat captain Hilton Yoel Antonio Benliss spotted two buoy markers moving erratically on Saturday morning in the water off Seven Mile Beach and he instantly knew something was off.
As he drew closer, Benliss said what he saw was “heartbreaking” – an adult loggerhead turtle entangled in a fishing net and ropes from the two buoys.
Though pressed for time, the captain reached into the water and hastily cut the net to free the turtle and called the Department of Environment to check on the animal as he headed off to work.
He told the Cayman Compass on Monday in a telephone interview that the animal lover in him kept thinking of the turtle and if it was safe as he went along with his day.
The DoE, however did not find the affected animal and issued a public call for the community to be on the lookout for the entangled turtle.
Benliss said though he was focused on his work he did not forget the hapless turtle.
“My mind just stayed on the this turtle, I hoped it didn’t drown or anything happened to it,” he said.
Around 3pm that day, after finishing his charter, Benliss headed out along Seven Mile Beach in search of the turtle.
Struggling turtle
He said he spotted a dive boat in the water and his eye caught the two buoys moving some ways off from that boat.
He knew the animal was still trapped.
The captain headed straight for the buoys hoping that he could help the turtle.
A wave of relief washed over him as he saw the weakened, but alive, animal.
“It was a good sign of hope. I was like, ‘okay, nothing happened, and I can finally release you, because you’ve been on my mind for a while,'” he said recounting the turtle rescue.
The captain, originally from Nicaragua, tried to cut the turtle free of the net around its neck.
“It was fighting against me because it saw me as a threat. As soon as it started seeing me helping, it calmed down and stop splashing water. It just calmed down and let me start cutting the ropes and the lines from around it,” he said.
The turtle, he said, “was a big fellow,” and swum off once he had been freed.
Call for safe fishing practices
Benliss said it hurt to see the animal suffering and he believed that the turtle had been trapped in the net as well as the rope from the night before given its weakened state.
He urged those fishing to be mindful of their use of lines and nets.
“What I would say to the fishermen is the moment we start abusing marine life and start putting things in their home or indeed not in a designated area then these marine life start to struggle like this,” he said.
He urged the community to respect the marine life and fish in the designated areas.
The DoE, through a Facebook post, confirmed that the loggerhead turtle entangled in buoy markers over the weekend was freed.
“Many thanks to Mr. Hilton who noticed the turtle while out on his boat and was able to approach it and cut it free,” the DoE added.
The public is being urged to report any distressed animals to DoE Conservation Officers on 916-4271.
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