Endangered sea turtle strangled by discarded beach chair
Tragic photographs have emerged of a sea turtle strangled by a beach chair.
The image was posted by turtle activist, Matt Ware, who found the dead turtle during a “morning turtle patrol” with the Alabama Sea Turtle Conservation Program.
In one image, the dead turtle lays on the beach with a bloodied neck, next to the chair.
“This is why we ask people to “Leave Only Footprints”, “Leave No Trace”, pick up after themselves when they leave the beach,” Mr Ware said.
The Kemp’s Ridley is the most endangered sea turtle and “decline of this species is primarily due to human activities”, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Mr Ware hopes to raise awareness about how littering harms marine life.
The associated ‘Fort Morgan Share the Beach’ program posted on Facebook about the turtle’s needless death.
“This Kemps Ridley which in on the endangered list was found this morning with this chair around it’s neck,” the program said.
” This makes me so mad. How many hundreds of times do we have to ask people to pick their stuff up? It should just be common decency,” the program said.
Facebook users were devastated by the images.
“Oh my goodness, such an awful thing,” one user said.
“Tragic. So preventable!!”, another user said.
Mr Ware urged beach goers to take their rubbish home and care for the environment.
“Please be responsible when visiting the beach – you are not the only one who uses it,” he said.
