People See Sea Turtle Gasping For Air And Know Exactly What To Do

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This sea turtle couldn't have picked a more perfect person to swim by.

On Sunday, the loggerhead was stuck in a troubling predicament: He had a fishing line wrapped around his neck and tangled in his flipper. The line was attached to a fishing rod that was dragging behind him. He was spotted by Phillip Beck, an employee of Excel Watersports in Destin, Florida, who was on a jetski pulling along a group of guests.

"It was gasping for air," Christ Trafton, owner of Excel Watersports, told NWF Daily News.

Beck knew he couldn't simply leave the turtle on his own. "My kids were on a banana boat ride when the driver of the jet ski that was pulling them saw this turtle in need of help," Dalan Savage wrote in a Facebook comment about the rescue. "This man quickly turned off the jet ski, dove into the water, [grabbed] this turtle and brought the turtle back to shore."

Beck was cut up by barnacles on the turtle's shell, but didn't let that deter him from helping out.

Linda Hermann, who happened to be visiting the beach that day, managed to capture pictures of the rescue.

"From the looks of the turtle's back and the pole, that turtle had been dragging that pole around for several weeks, if not more," Hermann told local outlet The Destin Log. Once the turtle was cut free, he was released and swam back out into the sea.

Despite the heroic rescue, the best thing to do when you come across an animal in trouble - like the sea turtle - is to call local wildlife officials, who can not only assist in the rescue, but make sure the animal is healthy enough to be released.

Properly disposing of trash helps too.

Check out this video about edible six-pack beer rings that will save so many animals' lives: