'Sick' footage shows fisherman riding a sea turtle

A fisherman has been slammed for riding a live turtle on the deck of a ship.

Video shows the unnamed man sitting on top of the large turtle as the creature flaps about as he yells, raising an arm in the air. He then drags the animal along the deck before picking it up.

The video was uploaded to Instagram by marine wildlife conservation group, Nakawe Project, last week, urging people to value and protect animals.

“The world’s population of human beings needs a lot of environmental education, which must be part of conservation programs worldwide,” the group captioned the video.

It’s not known where or when the video was filmed or who the man is but The Sun reports the ship was a fishing vessel run by a Vietnamese crew.

But he’s been slammed for riding the turtle and potentially causing it harm.

“I’m crying watching this video,” one user wrote.

“I’m so mad and angry and sad. How could someone ever do this?”

Another added the video made them feel sick and “lost for words”.

Others suggested the man needed to be educated in how to treat animals.

According to WWF, “nearly all” species of sea turtles are endangered.

Nakawe Project later added it’s working with authorities to find the man.

In July, tragic photos emerged of a sea turtle strangled by a beach chair in the US.

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.

Earlier this month, authorities in Florida were left perplexed by a bizarre, toxic phenomenon killing dolphins, manatees and whale sharks in the waters of Florida.

Dead marine creatures were washing up on the shores, as an annual algal bloom dubbed the ‘red tide’ poisoned the animals.

The deadly ‘red tide’, is a naturally occurring microscopic algal bloom which occurs annually along Florida’s Gulf Coast. It is caused by an overgrowth of the algae, which can discolour the water.

While the red tide has occurred every year since the 1840s, higher than normal blooms of the Florida red tide alga, Karenia Brevis, frequently occur in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).