This is the heartwarming moment firefighters rescued a hapless sea turtle trapped in a fishing net in Phuket.

The officers were called to the scene after residents spotted the reptile stuck in the fishing equipment off the rubbish-strewn shores of Mai Khao Beach on Monday.

Footage shows the officers collecting the ghost net from the shallows and cutting the bound marine animal loose with a knife. The turtle waved its flippers as it was carried back into the sea.

The Phuket Airport Rescue and Firefighting Service said: 'We recognize the importance of the marine environment and ask for cooperation in stopping the dumping of garbage and fishing equipment into the sea, so that it remains abundant and a safe habitat for marine animals.'

According to UNESCO's Facts & Figures on Marine Pollution, more than one million marine animals -including mammals, fish, sharks, turtles, and birds — are killed each year due to plastic debris in the ocean. These animals can become entangled in meshes, leading to suffocation, starvation, injury, and death.

An estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean each year. It is projected that by 2050, there could be more plastic than fish in the ocean.

Lorin Hancock from the World Wildlife Fund said: 'Those abandoned fishing lines and nets that break down never truly go away; they just become smaller pieces of plastic.

'Marine animals mistake this microplastic for food and eat it, which can harm their internal organs, prevent proper feeding, and expose them to toxic chemicals.'