While bystanders hail him as hero, wildlife experts don't recommend attempting such a rescue.

VENICE — Locals are hailing a man's efforts to remove a hook from a loggerhead sea turtle Monday beneath the Venice pier as heroic, but the manager of Mote Marine Laboratory's Stranding Investigations Program says the man is lucky he wasn't harmed.

Gretchen Lovewell, a Mote marine biologist, says the turtle was a skinny male loggerhead who appeared to be in "depredation" and looking for an easy meal at the pier. He bit on angler Rob Merlino's hook and became entangled.

"We call it depredation. They are chasing bait and hooks by piers and boats," said Lovewell who has been active in the stranding network since 1999. "We see it sometimes with dolphins as well. There is sometimes an underlying issue. In the case with turtles at the pier, they have hooks in them — it's often many hooks.

"Like us hitting the drive-thru, hitting the pier and eating bait is an easy meal because he's not feeling great."

Jeff Hyde, the manager of Sharky's on the Pier, was standing at the restaurant, which overlooks the pier, when he saw a man step onto the railing and dive into the 8-feet-deep water. He thought, at first, the man was battling a shark.

When he got a closer look, he saw commercial fisherman Austin Selby on the back of a sea turtle working to free a hook. He had his hand wrapped in 80-pound test fishing line to stay close to the ocean reptile.

Merlino, of Needham, Massachusetts, was fishing for "anything that bites" off the pier, when the loggerhead chomped his bait. He was using a 10-770 spinning reel, which was stout, but not strong enough to drag a turtle.

Merlino signaled to others on the pier to call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Mote. He experienced a turtle hooking this year and knew they'd want to beach it.

"The reel didn't have enough drag — the turtle was in charge," said Merlino. They switched the line over to a stronger rod and reel to try and tow the turtle.

Merlino turned to the people on the pier and a young man, Selby, offered to help.

"This kid says, 'I'll jump in and get it out,'" to which Merlino replied, "Are you sure you want to do that? He said 'yes.' I said 'go nuts.'"

Several times, the protected sea turtle thrashed its front flippers in the water, spraying Selby, and once submerged to the sea floor. They resurfaced after a few tense moments.

Selby, who declined an interview for the story, said in a message on Facebook he almost did not come back up. The two floated closer to the pier and someone dropped pliers that hit Selby in the head. He used them to free the turtle from the hook just before they went beneath the pier deck.

The crowd cheered the man's actions and he swam back to shore.

"Put a little saying at the end saying 'don't try this at home,'" Merlino said. "He had never wrangled a turtle before, but he did the job."

The man who took the video — Zinn. Jr. — is a regular fisherman on the pier. He said that Selby's efforts were brave and calculated.

"He did it smart and asked if someone had a pair of wire clippers," Zinn Jr. said. "He was excuahsed by the time this thing was over."

Hyde also applauded Selby's actions.

"The turtle might have died if he didn't get in to do it," he said. "Everyone applauded him, thanked him, and offered to buy him a drink or dinner. He did a great job to jump in the shark-infested waters at Sharky's."

Bystander Lisa Salvo also complimented the man's heroism. She saw him dive into the water but wasn't immediately sure why.

"I thought this man, whoever he is, is a hero," Salvo said.

Safety concerns

It took 15 minutes for employees from Mote to get to the scene and about 40 minutes for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to respond to the report of the entangled turtle. The Venice Police Department also reported the incident to the stranding team.

Lovewell said it's safer to wait the 40 minutes than to attempt to cut the hook, which is what FWC recommends.

"The guy put himself in severe danger and harm," the marine biologist said. "He's lucky he got out of that situation without getting bit or harmed. He jumped off the pier and put himself in that position."

She said staff would have recommended attempting to land the turtle on the beach so that it could be evaluated. Based on information gathered from the video Donald Edward Zinn Jr. posted on Facebook, she said it appeared the young loggerhead might be skinny, which could signal potential health issues.

"I think some of the movement is just a response to being somewhat harassed — technically that's harassment," Lovewell says. "I know the citizen had nothing but good intentions."

Faced with an animal that was in danger, it's not unusual for people to react to aid ocean animal — people don't want to wait long for help, she said. Selby was dealing with a powerful, albeit sick, 300-pound turtle.

"We always stress human safety first," said Lovewell, who mentioned there are dangers lurking under the pier such as hooks, lines and sharks. "I'm sure everyone felt great seeing that turtle swim off somewhat gear free. If I didn't know better, I'd be cheering as well. We need people like that who care about animals — we prefer that they call us."

More information about Mote's SIP team can be found online at: mote.org/research/program/stranding-investigations.

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