By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A PHOTO of a dead turtle hooked and tangled in fishing line in Bahamian waters has gained international attention after winning a prestigious photography award.

The image, which was captured in 2017 by Canadian dive instructor Shane Gross, placed first in the conservation category of the 2019 International Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition.

According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Mr Gross’ girlfriend was leading a dive tour when they came across the turtle’s corpse.

“There were tears in her eyes,” Mr Gross told the CBC. “She started telling me about this poor turtle that was entangled in the fishing line, which was also entangled in the coral, and turtles need to breathe air.

“So the turtle was so entangled that it couldn’t reach the surface to breathe. And essentially the turtle drowned.”

Mr Gross said he chose to take the photo to help raise awareness on the impact of marine pollution. He also decided to remove the fishing line to prevent any other marine animals from getting trapped. “This type of thing happens in the ocean every day. We just normally don’t get to see it. I mean, nobody wants to see that. But we have to because that’s the truth.”

According to the CBC, this was the eighth time Mr Gross entered the photography competition, but the first time the photo contest included a conservation category.

“This seemed like a very fitting image,” Mrs Gross said. “A category dedicated to images that show humans’ impact on the oceans. People who see the image have had emotional reactions. People get quite upset when they see it. Which I think is a good thing because this is our fault.

“That dead stare right into the camera seems to strike people in a very emotional way. People don’t respond to statistics, they respond to individuals. I hope that this turtle becomes kind of a representative for the oceans as a whole.”

Mr Gross told the CBC that climate change, plastic pollution and overfishing have negatively impacted ocean life.

He said he hopes the image he captured will inspire people to revise their “consumption habits” and alter them for the better. “(It’s) an individual turtle that is a victim and died in a horrible way because of our negligence. I hope that it can inspire a few people to be better toward the planet.

“(There are) flip flops and other plastic items washing up on the beach every single day. ...you go to a beach that isn’t being cleaned every day and it’s just, you can barely see the sand because there’s so much plastic in it. I’m still hopeful because there is still a lot of beauty.”

Mr Gross said while he still sees a variety of marine life on his diving excursions, he has noticed that their numbers have decreased compared to what they used to be eight years ago when he first moved to the country.

He said he believed that businesses must “step up” to create change. He added that consumers must also hold them accountable. “There’s a lot of problems, but there is still hope,” he told the CBC. “I have to believe in hope.”