February 23, 2023 my friend and I went diving out on the west side of Oahu. I spotted this turtle with fishing line wrapped around its front left fin and leading to its mouth. Thankfully there was no hook. We were able remove all of it. We theorize that it had gotten tangled in the line and the turtle was trying its best to untangle itself by biting and gathering up the line in its mouth. We eventually found the rest of the fishing line tangled on the reef and were able to remove it. We assume the line was flown out using a drone given that we were over a quarter mile from shore. The fishing line we found had the same color and amount of degradation as the one on the turtle. Our theory is that the turtle had gotten tangled, was able break free, then tried removing the fishing line itself.
