Rescuers Save 400-Pound Sea Turtle Entangled In Cape Cod Bay

BARNSTABLE, MA — A massive leatherback sea turtle was found in a dire situation in Cape Cod Bay recently.

Scientists from the New England Aquarium's Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life and members of the aquarium's Animal Health team and Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation staff worked with the Center for Coastal Studies' disentanglement team and the Barnstable Harbormaster's office while responding to the entangled turtle.

Officials with the aquarium estimate that the turtle weighed 400-ponds and was 6-feet long.

The turtle was successfully disentangled, officials said, before being examined by the aquarium's animal health team.

It was given satellite and acoustic tagging devices which will allow Anderson Cabot Center scientists to assess survivorship and long-term behavior of the leatherback.

The turtle was then released back into the ocean cheered on by a number of onlookers, officials said.

Photos of the rescue can be seen in the post below: