Watch fisherman bravely rescue endangered green sea turtle trapped in a clay pot
Several of the animals have died in recent years in similar circumstances.
The moment a fisherman saved a green sea turtle tangled in a clay pot has been captured on camera.
He discovered the endangered animal stuck in shallow mangroves at Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia.
Fisherman Daniel Vallis cut the net from around the turtle's neck before dragging it carefully towards deeper water, saving the creature from likely death.
"This one was the biggest turtle I'd ever seen. I started rubbing my hand on its shell and it lifted its head and turned to look at me.
"That's when I knew I had to do something," Vallis told the Wynnum Herald.
The animals are listed as endangered and face threats from fishing nets, boat propeller accidents and the destruction of their habitats by humans. They are also killed for their meat and eggs.
Sea turtles live in nearly every ocean basin in the world and nest on beaches. Around 60 days after the eggs are laid, hatchlings emerge and know to make their way to the ocean.
They spend almost their whole lives at sea, except when adult females come ashore to nest several times a season every two to five years.
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