National Geographic: The Sea Turtle and the Captain

[Omaha Steve]

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/09/22/the-sea-turtle-and-the-captain/


Posted by Todd Steiner in Ocean Views on September 22, 2014



Captain Robert Thomas was fishing for Chinook salmon in the San Francisco Bay. His charter sport fishing boat, the Salty Lady, was near Buoy 1, just outside of the Golden Gate Bridge when they accidentally foul-hooked an endangered Pacific green sea turtle.

Thomas has been fishing these waters for decades and though he has seen his share of the giant leatherback sea turtles off the coast, this was the first hard-shell turtle he has ever seen get hooked off his vessel.

Pacific green turtles are not typically found in the cold waters of the Bay. They prefer the warmer waters further south off the coast of Mexico. Above-average sea surface temperatures have been present off San Francisco and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) (NOAA), is predicting the chance of El Niño is at 60-65 percent during the Northern Hemisphere fall and winter. Nonetheless, this sea turtle was far from the nearest significant nesting population found in the Mexican State of Michoacan more than 2,000 miles south of San Francisco, which makes the sighting very unusual.

FULL story at link: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/09/22/the-sea-turtle-and-the-captain/

Salty Lady Sportfishing (http://www.saltylady.com)is a recreational fishing charter vessel based in Sausalito, CA. Captain Roger Thomas offers a lifetime of fishing experience and a large, fast, comfortable boat to fish fromThe Salty Lady also offers whale watching and sight seeing tours and can be reached at [phone].

(All photos courtesy of the Salty Lady).