A barstool floating in the Gulf of Mexico became a death trap for one of the most endangered sea turtles.
The Northwest Daily News reports that a rare Kemp’s ridley sea turtle was spotted stuck in the barstool’s legs just off Dune Allen Beach Monday night in the Florida panhandle.
Sharon Maxwell of the South Walton Turtle Watch tells the newspaper that good Samaritans retrieved the turtle and called her organization.
She says the turtle was “too far gone” to do a necropsy.
The South Walton Turtle Watch posted about the sea turtle on its Facebook page:
“This is so very sad, and so easy to stop. Please do not leave your items, anything, on the beach. We did get this beautiful lady out of the chair. She was a critical endangered Kemps and of course she was dead. Look at her head to see what she went through. Poor thing it must have been an awful death. Why can’t we keep things off the beach at night. Please spread the word and do your part. Many thanks”
A spokesperson for the organization told WFLA.com that the sea turtle became entangled in the bar stool while in the Gulf od Mexico and washed up onto the beach in Walton County.
The Walton County Tourist Development Council retrieved the turtle on Tuesday to bury it.
All sea turtle populations are under threat. Biologists say the Kemp’s ridley is the closest to extinction.