Forest rangers of the Con Dao National Park in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, on July 4, rescued a rare sea turtle trapped by plastic waste in the park’s conserved sea area.

The sea turtle after being freed from a discarded plastic net

Weighing 5-6kg, the hawksbill sea turtle, scientifically named Eretmochelys imbricate, was trapped in a discarded fishing net and would be killed if not promptly rescued. After being freed from the net, it swam away.

The animal is listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 

Since the beginning of the year, the park has so far saved four rare sea turtles; two of them were trapped by floating plastic waste.

Con Dao beaches are nesting sites of the biggest number of green sea turtles in Vietnam. There are six turtle conservation stations on the islands of Con Dao National Park, managing 16 nesting grounds.