Watch Divers Free Sharks and Other Marine Animals Caught in Deadly ‘Ghost Nets’

Trawlers traverse the world’s oceans with giant nets that incidentally kill hundreds of millions of marine mammals and fish not targeted by commercial fishing operators. Worse, when that gear is abandoned or becomes lost, these “ghost nets” can continue to catch fish, dolphins, seals, sea turtles, and other marine life for decades.

Nonprofits around the world are forming alliances to combat this global issue. One of them is Ocean Defenders Alliance, which has undertaken more than 180 missions to rescue sharks, sea turtles, and other marine animals trapped in ghost nets and remove derelict fishing gear from the ocean off the Southern California coast.

In the video above, TakePart associate environment and wildlife editor Taylor Hill joins the ODA crew as it sets off from Los Angeles Harbor to the site of a submerged shipwreck that has become a hot spot for ghost fishing.

Read more about the fight to save the world's oceans in our Blue Planet series.