KAPA‘A — A giant sea turtle is still alive thanks to a Washington state couple visiting Kaua‘i on vacation. Julie and Otto Schenck, of Graham, Wash., stumbled across the helpless animal around 6 a.m. Thursday during a sunrise stroll
KAPA‘A — A giant sea turtle is still alive thanks to a Washington state couple visiting Kaua‘i on vacation.
Julie and Otto Schenck, of Graham, Wash., stumbled across the helpless animal around 6 a.m. Thursday during a sunrise stroll along Kealia Beach, just north of Kapa‘a.
“It was huge,” Julie said. “We thought it was dead at first.”
The turtle had washed up on the beach and was entangled in a large commercial fishing net.
“We didn’t know if that debris was from the tsunami or what,” Otto said.
Two men who were in the area eventually came to the rescue with knives. After approximately 10 minutes, the turtle was free, suffering only minor cuts to his left front flipper from being caught in the netting, according to Julie.
“He immediately went right into the ocean,” she said.
It was an experience the Schencks say they won’t likely forget.
“We don’t have turtles in Washington,” Julie said. “He was very lucky.”
The Schencks arrived on Kaua‘i Tuesday and are vacationing here for two weeks.
