Abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear continues to trap and kill sea turtles long after it has left human hands.
Sea turtles entangled in ghost gear experience a protracted death through drowning, starvation, or injury from struggling. The physical restraint causes panic responses as turtles attempt to surface for air and cannot. Monofilament lines cut into flippers causing amputations and infections. Ghost traps continue to attract and kill as long as they remain in the ocean. As long-lived, slow-reproducing animals, each individual turtle death has population-level significance.