The Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen has shared a video of the dramatic moment she saved a beached turtle that had gotten caught in a fishing net.
The 41-year-old model shared a video of the moment on her Instagram account on 4th December. It shows her squatting down next to the trapt creature and carefully un-tangle its flippers which had gotten in the net.
Once she has managed to free the turtle she effortlessly picks it up by its shell and carries it back to the ocean water while the turtle frantically moves its flippers in distress.
To lift a turtle, like this is easier said than done, as according to Conserve Turtles, the average turtle can weigh anywhere between 240 to 420lbs so Bundchen has clearly been hitting the gym with her NFL superstar husband Tom Brady.
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The video ends with the turtle happily back in the water and swimming away back into its natural habitat.
Writing about the experience, Bundchen said in the Instagram caption: “Early this morning I was walking on the beach and Onyx started barking at a pile of ocean trash that had washed during high tide. When I came closer I saw this beautiful turtle turned upside down with a look of hopelessness and exhaustion in her eyes, her body knotted and entangled in a fishing net.
“I immediately started to free her from the net that was strangling her, but even after we got her untied, she was too tired to make her way back to the ocean. I didn’t think twice, I just picked her up and carry her to the water (amazing how adrenaline can make you stronger!) I felt relieved and so happy to see her swim away freely, grateful that I was there and able to help.
“But there are so many other animals that unfortunately end up dying on nets like this. Today I was reminded that we must become more aware of our ways as a species and help protect all animals, it’s our choice. I pray that we can all rise and remember that the opportunity to change begins with a single act.”
Bundchen’s relationship with turtles is not a new thing. In 2017 she joined the UN’s ‘Wild for Life’ campaign where she chose a sea turtle as her kindred spirit.
In an essay published in the Huffington Post in the same year, she wrote: “Animals are part of all our worlds and most people who care deeply about animals, the environment, and the planet have had a transformative moment in nature during childhood. My own experiences of connecting with nature and animals have shaped the person I am today.”
