'Highly endangered' sea turtle found dead in Cherry Grove

A "highly endangered" sea turtle that may have been hooked at a fishing pier was found dead on the beach in Cherry Grove over the weekend.

According to Linda Mataya, leader of the North Myrtle Beach Sea Turtle Patrol, the juvenile Kemp's ridley turtle had a "severely" damaged jaw along with fishing line wrapped on its flipper. The turtle was found May 5.

Mataya wrote in a Facebook post Monday that aside from its damaged jaw, the turtle was in excellent shape and was not abnormally thin so it "should not have died."

A necropsy will be performed on the turtle to find out its exact cause of death, but Mataya believes it died after getting hooked on a fishing line at a pier.

What to do if you hook a sea turtle

Anyone who unintentionally hooks a sea turtle while fishing on the piers is asked to not pull the turtle onto the pier using the hook and line. Mataya said doing that can pull the turtle's tissues out, including its heart.

Instead, Mataya urges people to ask for help and to use a drop net to safely pull a hooked turtle up on a pier. Drop nets are available for use at the Cherry Grove and Apache piers, along with signs giving detailed instructions on what to do if you hook a sea turtle.

The hook should not be removed from the turtle until a trained volunteer arrives to assess its injuries.

Any sick, dead, or injured sea turtles found may be reported to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources at 1-800-922-5431.

Michaela Broyles: 843-626-0281, @MichaelaBroyles

This story was originally published May 9, 2018 at 3:06 PM with the headline "'Highly endangered' sea turtle found dead in Cherry Grove."