Endangered Sea Turtle Dies After Getting Stuck In Abandoned Beach Chair

An endangered sea turtle was found dead at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge beach in Fort Morgan, Alabama, with an abandoned folded beach chair wrapped around its neck.

The shocking photo of dead sea turtle was shared on a Facebook page named “Fort Morgan Share the Beach” on Saturday with the caption: “This Kemps Ridley which in on the endangered list was found this morning with this chair around it’s neck. This makes me so mad. How many hundreds of times do we have to ask people to pick their stuff up? It should just be common decency. I think I am going to print this out and carry it with me next time I have to ask. ”

The page’s spokeswoman Debbie Harbin said, “There was a heavy string around the chair that wrapped around the turtle’s neck,” the Huffington Post reported.

"The chair was around its head when they found it. The chair had barnacles on it so had been in the water for a while. So much stuff left on the beach washes into the gulf. Why we need something like ‘Leave Only Footprints,’" Harbin told local daily WKRG.

The chair with barnacles on it was apparently washed out to the sea and the turtle got entangled in it.

The post has been shared more than 3,700 times with several people expressing their displeasure.

“Come on, people, if you want to ‘adult,’ then be one and pick up after yourselves,” one commenter wrote.

“You can post all the signs you want but it doesn’t matter. Goes to how people were raised, how lazy and selfish they are. But I am NOT saying we should quit trying. And we will be posting this photo in our rental!!! ” another person commented.

Litter left on Alabama beaches prompted the “Leave Only Footprints” initiative.

"A beach vacation is a time for rest and relaxation. Make your trip even more carefree when you know the beach regulations prior to your travels. Join us in continuing sustainable travel practices and protecting the beaches, marine life and wildlife by removing beach gear by one hour after sunset each day,” Leave Only Footprints website reads.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission had earlier said lounge chairs were a factor in 64 turtle emergences during the 1998 sea turtle nesting season.

The commission had recommended people to remove heavy wooden lounge chairs during the nesting season, or at least place them spaced apart 6 feet from side-to-side. The density of the beach chairs should not be more than one row during the nesting season and other structures considered trash must be removed from the beach instead of being stacked at the corners.

The commission said apart from creating obstacles for nesting, the discarded chairs also pollute water and beach.

Kemp's Ridley sea turtle is an endangered species and often identified by its yellow plastron on bottom shell, gray carapace on top shell and heart-shaped scales.