Floating barstool became deathtrap for endangered sea turtle

DUNE ALLEN BEACH, Fla. – A barstool floating in the Gulf of Mexico became a death trap for one of the most endangered sea turtles.

The Northwest Daily News reports that a rare Kemp’s ridley sea turtle was spotted stuck in the barstool’s legs just off Dune Allen Beach Monday night in the Florida panhandle.

Sharon Maxwell of the South Walton Turtle Watch tells the newspaper that good Samaritans retrieved the turtle and called her organization. She says the turtle was “too far gone” to do a necropsy.

The Walton County Tourist Development Council retrieved the turtle on Tuesday to bury it.

All sea turtle populations are under threat. Biologists say the Kemp’s ridley is the closest to extinction.