10 devastating videos of marine animals caught in fishing gear
When people talk about ocean pollution and marine animal entanglements, they often think of plastic: straws, bags, containers, etc. While single-use plastic pollution is a huge problem and negatively impacts marine animals as well as the underwater ecosystem, derelict fishing gear makes up the majority of the big plastic pollution in the ocean, according to a Greenpeace report.
The fishing industry is responsible for far more deaths than the animals it captures for food. Overfishing disrupts the food chain and drives many marine animals to extinction. According to one study, “if fishing rates continue at this rate, all of the world’s fisheries will have collapsed by 2048″. The fishing industry is also responsible for the destruction of coral reefs and unsustainable aquaculture.
Two of the biggest problems in the fishing industry are bycatch and ghost nets. When fishing trawlers pull in their huge nets, so many more animals than just the target fish end up in their nets. Dolphins, sharks, whales and other marine animals get caught in these nets and are often killed in the process. In addition, more than 640,000 tons of commercial fishing gear are thrown into the sea every year. Animals get caught in these nets, preventing them from swimming, eating and ultimately surviving.
As a society, we need to start respecting and caring for marine animals. They are sensitive, emotional and intelligent beings who need more protection if we want to prevent them from disappearing. To understand the horrors the fishing industry is responsible for, here are 10 devastating videos of marine animals caught in fishing gear.
1. Sea turtle tangled in a ghost net
Source: Sea Turtle Biologist/Youtube
When Christine Figgener and her team were in their research boat, they came across an Olive Ridley Sea Turtle that was entangled in a ghost net. She was exhausted from lugging the tangle of fishing gear with her, so the team pulled her onto the boat and got to work cutting the gear. The ropes had cut her neck deeply, so they disinfected the wound with iodine, then released her back into the ocean.
2. A man untangles a stranded manta ray in a fishing net
Source: The Dodo/Youtube
When this huge manta ray washed ashore, tangled in a fishing net, everyone started taking pictures of the helpless animal. While the fascination with such a magnificent creature is understandable, poor Ray needed immediate help. Wildlife selfies have contributed to the suffering of so many animals and it could have been a scenario that would have been no different had one man not decided to take charge. He worked to free the stranded animal from the fishing tackle and called people to help him. Under his command, they all worked together and were able to bring this amazing manta ray back to the ocean, free at last.
3. Sea Shepherd finds 57 dead sharks in an abandoned gillnet
Source: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society/Youtube
During Operation Milagro V in the upper Gulf of California, the Sea Shepherd team found an old abandoned net and quickly hauled it up to save as many animals as possible. Unfortunately, despite the large number of animals entangled in the net, very few were still alive. They freed what animals they could and threw them back into the sea, but a large majority of the animals were already dead. Among the trapped animals, the team found fifty-seven dead sharks. When sharks stop swimming, they die, making them incredibly difficult to save once trapped in a ghost net.
4. A dolphin asks a man to remove the pinball’s hook and fishing line.
Source: The Dodo/Youtube
When this diver was swimming with Manta Rays in Hawaii, a dolphin swam up to him asking for help. The dolphin had a hook in its fin with the fishing line wrapped around it. The man removed the hook and cut the line so the dolphin could swim away from the uncomfortable fishing tackle. Although this dolphin was lucky to find someone to help him, there are so many dolphins who are not so lucky and suffer injuries or get caught in other things, which makes it difficult to swimming, the search for food and therefore survival.
5. French fishing trawlers kill dolphins as bycatch
Source: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society/Youtube
In February 2019, Sea Shepherd was patrolling the Bay of Biscay fishing grounds. They found two French trawlers using a trawling method notorious for destroying the swimming grounds of bass and dolphins. In the video, you can see the trawlers hauling up one of these nets with not only a large number of fish, but also a dolphin trapped inside. Following the trawlers for two hours, waiting for them to release the dolphin, Sea Shepherd came across a smaller dolphin with marks from hooks and nets floating on the surface. Sadly, dolphin deaths at the hands of the fishing industry are incredibly common. As Sea Shepherd recounts in this video, over 600 dolphins killed by fishing nets have washed up in France over a 6 week period and thousands of dolphins are killed as bycatch each year.
6. Baby seal nearly loses its fin to fishing line
Source: Ocean Conservation Namibia/Youtube
When the Ocean Conservation Namibia team encountered a group of Cape fur seals, they saw a young seal, dragging a fishing line behind it. They were able to catch the pup and discovered that not only was a commercial fishing line wrapped around its neck, but it was also wrapped so tightly around its fin that it had cut off almost half of it. The team cut the seal’s fishing gear, finally allowing him to begin to heal from the immense pain the gear likely caused him. If the team hadn’t saved this poor seal pup, he could have lost his fin or choked on the fishing line.
7. Divers untangle sperm whale fin from fishing net
Source: Newzee/Youtube
In June, off the Aeolian Islands in Italy, the Lipari Coast Guard helped free a sperm whale stuck in a fishing net. His fin was completely tangled in the net which was definitely uncomfortable and made swimming difficult. The whale was visibly in distress, but after an hour divers were able to remove the net and the Coast Guard made sure the whale was okay. He swam away and joined three others, freed from the uncomfortable net he was trapped in.
8. The brothers free four sea turtles strangled by a fishing net
Source: VidOasis Kids
Two brothers were sailing near Mexico when they noticed four sea turtles tangled in a large wad of fishing gear. At first they assumed the turtles were dead, but after going out on an inflatable boat to collect the trash, a brother realized the turtles were still alive. He started cutting the net to free the turtles and give them a chance of survival. One of them was just a baby and still had so much life ahead of him! He finally arrived at the last turtle, which was out of breath. The netting was extremely tight around the turtle’s neck and cut off its airways. Eventually, the brother managed to cut the turtle’s net and save its life. These turtles were lucky to be found by someone who could help them before it was too late. The brother pulled the nets out of the ocean, so that no other animals would be strangled by the same net.
9. Endangered Vaquita died in an illegal gillnet
Source: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Footage has recently emerged of a dead Vaquita, an illegal totoaba gillnet in Mexico’s upper Gulf of California. Vaquitas are the most endangered marine animal, with less than twenty in the world. Unsustainable fishing practices are to blame for bringing this species so close to extinction. In this video, poor Vaquita is completely entangled in the gillnet. Poachers nudged the animal, but it didn’t move, so it’s unclear if the Vaquita survived. This video comes a year after Sea Shepherd found a dead Vaquita entangled in a gillnet and just days after their vessel was attacked by poachers while removing illegal fishing gear in the Vaquita Refuge.
10. A diving instructor removes the net from the shark’s mouth
Source: The Dodo/Youtube
Iñaki is a scuba diving instructor near Byron Bay, Australia. While diving, he noticed a shark that had a fishing net hanging from its mouth. The shark seemed weak and Iñaki knew that if he did nothing, the shark would not survive as the nets often prevent entangled animals from being able to eat. Iñaki swam out and began his attempt to free the shark from the potentially deadly net. The shark seemed to understand that Iñaki was there to help him and stopped swimming so that Iñaki could help him. It took a few tries, but eventually Iñaki managed to pull the huge net out of the shark’s mouth. Moments later, the shark returned with another shark and shared eye contact with Iñaki before swimming away. Today, Iñaki educates people about the damage caused by ocean pollution and encourages them to protect marine animals by properly disposing of their waste.
What you can do:
If you haven’t already, eliminating fish from your diet is the best way to protect marine animals. Encourage others around you to do the same to increase your impact and educate them about the havoc the fishing industry is wreaking on the underwater ecosystem. You should also avoid participating in sport fishing. If a fishing-related event is happening in your area, politely contact its organizers and sponsors to explain why angling is inhumane. Finally, avoid buying fish from pet stores. We must protect marine animals and our oceans. Keeping fish off your plate is the best way to do this.
Sign this petition to ban gillnets responsible for killing thousands of dolphins and other marine animals!
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