A Pacific tortoise in Zhangzhou was rescued from a trapped breeding area and is a national first-class protected animal

Jimu News reporter Jia Shurui

Intern Wang Yixin

On June 25, fishermen near Dongshan Bay in Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province, spotted a Pacific loggerhead turtle that had strayed into a fishing net to feed. The coastal defense brigade of the local public security bureau, the coast guard bureau, the marine fisheries department and fishermen worked together to rescue and transfer this national first-level protected animal to the deep sea for release.

At about 13:00 on June 25, the police of the Coastal Defense Brigade of the Dongshan County Public Security Bureau received an alarm from fishermen near Dongshan Bay that they had caught a large turtle that had mistakenly entered the net to feed during the fishing operation.

"The turtle was moving near the fish steak, intending to steal fish farmed by fishermen, and happened to be trapped." The staff of the coastal defense brigade of the Dongshan City Public Security Bureau told jimu news reporters that after the local fishermen found the turtle, they could not determine whether it was injured or not, so they temporarily raised it on the fishing row.

The police of the Coastal Defense Brigade immediately joined hands with the Zhangzhou Coast Guard Bureau and the Marine Fisheries Department to go to the fishing row and found that the turtle was reddish-brown throughout, with a body length of 107 cm, a width of 68 cm, and a weight of 125 kg. According to the identification of professionals, this sea turtle that was mistakenly caught is scientifically known as the Pacific Loggerhead Turtle, which is distributed in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, and is a national first-class protected wild animal.

Jimu News reporter contacted Mr. Zhuang, a staff member of the Dongshan County Marine and Fisheries Brigade who participated in the rescue, and after on-site inspection, he found that the turtle was not obviously injured, so he cooperated with the public security department and the coast guard to transfer it to the waters of Dongmen Island for release.

"To avoid trapping it in aquaculture and fishing facilities, we used boats to move the Pacific tortoise to deep-sea waters suitable for its survival." Mr. Zhuang said that after a few minutes of boating, the turtle returned to the embrace of the sea.

Surrounding residents told Jimu News that it is common for locals to rescue and release turtles and wildlife.

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