Local environmental NGO Wildlife Rescue Team Malta took to Facebook to make one very tragic announcement…

…it recently discovered a deceased turtle ‘stuck to entanglement’ on Malta’s seabed.

The poor creature was found whilst divers Anna Degiorgio and Nunzio Dugo were on a dive. They immediately called emergency services but, unfortunately, it was too late.

Together with fellow NGO Zibel, the Wildlife Rescue Team worked all through yesterday’s public holiday “to coordinate the assessment of ghost fishing gear and in the process, retrieval of the turtle.”

“The turtle was an adult female specimen of around 20-25 years, with a line coming out of the back, indicating hook ingestion”, the ‘Wildlife Rescue Team’ reported.

“The line was entangled and stuck to rocks, preventing the turtle from surfacing for air. The turtle's struggles to surface also caused internal damage by pulling on the line/hook”, they continued.

Local environmental activist Cami Appelgren also took to social media to express her frustrations about the situation whilst appealing for more responsible fishing practices.

“Imagine where that hook got stuck. Imagine the pain. Imagine the panic when she can't go up for air but drowned at the bottom”, she wrote.

“Lose your net or your line? Be responsible and retrieve it”, she continued.

Facebook/Wildlife Rescue Team Malta