BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) _ Animal rescuers say they have disentangled a large leatherback sea turtle that was trapped in fishing gear off of Cape Cod.
Fishermen spotted the turtle off the Sandy Neck section of Barnstable on Sunday. The fishermen reported the sighting to the U.S. Coast Guard who notified the Center for Coastal Studies Marine Animal Entanglement response team.
A spokeswoman for the center says the turtle was in good condition upon release and swam away promptly.
International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species lists the leatherback turtle as ``vulnerable.'' It is the largest living turtle species in the world.
The center asks mariners who encounter endangered marina animals to call the Coast Guard 16 or the center at 800-900-3622.