Footage shows an Olive Ridley sea turtle being cut free on board a boat after getting entangled in abandoned fishing equipment off the coast of Gan in the Maldives.

The video shows David Balson cutting the animal free. It was shot as an awareness campaign to show the devastating destruction of ghost gear and marine debris.

Fisherman lose hundreds of thousands of tonnes of gear every year and animals die regularly when they get caught up in it.

This Olive Ridley was found entangled in a ghost net floating on the surface. The turtle was quickly brought aboard the boat and David Balson quickly got to work on cutting the animal free. This short video shows us cutting the turtle free from the net but also shows how badly wrapped up the turtle was.

Every year it is estimated that around 640, 000 tons of ghost gear are lost globally. Ghost gear is responsible for killing thousands of animals each year and many go unnoticed for many months, the lucky ones get found but many do not. This video was shot as an awareness campaign to show the devastating destruction of ghost gear and marine debris