Watch: Boat Crew Helps Tangled 700-Pound Sea Turtle off Orange County Coast

DANA POINT, CA A massive 700-pound leatherback sea turtle is swimming free off the coast of Orange County today thanks to a Dana Wharf Whale Watching crewman who jumped into the water to save it from a weighty tangle of sea kelp.

Jason Kunewa grabbed his knife and plunged into the water 15 miles off the coast of Dana Point Monday when whale watchers aboard the San Mateo spotted the mammoth sea creature swimming slowly with about 50 pounds of kelp wrapped around its neck and flipper.

“It was no big deal. I have swam with large honu before, but I’ve never seen one that big,” said Jason Kunewa, using the Hawaiian term for sea turtles. “There was a time when I would have been afraid, but I am not afraid anymore. It’s exhilarating. I mostly did it because the right thing to do. If I didn’t cut that thing off, it wouldn’t have killed it, but I made it’s day not having to tow 50 pounds of kelp.”

Kunewa said the turtle was almost as tall as him.

However, it wasn’t even full-grown, said Eric Austin Yee, a naturalist who works with Dana Wharf. Leatherbacks are the largest of the sea turtles and can grow up to seven-feet long, he said.

It’s uncommon to see the turtles off the coast of Orange County especially this time of year.

“They usually come to the California waters during the summertime,” said Yee.

The leatherback can travel as far as the coastline of Indonesia all the way to California. “They will actually travel across the Pacific, about 11,000 miles round-trip,” Yee said. “I think we are really lucky to have spotted the turtle and actually help it, the largest sea turtle out there.”

Kunewa, who had never before jumped in the water to rescue a creature before feels lucky to have been able to help. The turtle didn’t shy away from him, allowing him to grab onto the kelp and begin cutting.

“In Hawaii, we aren’t allowed to touch them, so i made sure not to touch him. I just held onto that stringer and cut it off little by little,” Kunewa.

It took less than a minute, he said.

“It wasn’t trying to get away from me. I like to think that it came up to me and let me take the kelp,” he said. “The honu is special to me. It’s kind of like what St. Christopher is to Catholics, like a protector at sea. I had to jump in and help.”

Photos: Courtesy of Dana Wharf Whale Watching