A TURTLE THAT DROWNED after it got entangled in fishing line in Carlisle Bay has prompted calls for fishing to be banned in that marine park and for the exclusion area to be expanded.
Last week, divers from Barbados Blue, who were taking a group of visitors on a dive in the Bay off Bay Street, St Michael, made the gruesome discovery of the dead green turtle. It was caught in a fishing line which was wrapped around one of the marine plants, trapping the sea turtle underwater and causing it to drown. Turtles need to surface periodically to breathe.
What upset the divers even more was that boats were in the bay with baited fishing lines hanging from the sides, in the area where turtles were fed. The area of the bay, in the vicinity of the Hilton Hotel, was designated as a marine park in the 1990s in an attempt to protect its marine diversity.
It is a favourite area for green turtles and has a number of man-made reefs from sunken ships, including the Bajan Queen. (HLE)
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