A BOURNEMOUTH man has saved two endangered sea turtles from the cooking pot while on holiday in Nicaragua.

Photographer Chris Skone-Roberts spotted the pair of giant green sea turtles bound and laid on their backs in the garden of a bar on Little Corn Island, and, realising they were destined for the dinner table, he leapt into action.

The 44-year-old PADI rescue diver called the police and gathered a group of tourists, fellow divers and conservation experts from Sea Shepherd to help save the animals, despite being confronted by an angry woman who claimed to own them.

Mr Skone-Roberts was able to keep the reptiles hydrated with buckets of water, and after the police arrived and ordered their release, the group put them on carts and released them into the sea.

“When I saw these incredible 80-year-old sea creatures being treated so appallingly and against international law I had to act,” he said.

“It wasn’t scary, despite having people threaten me with machetes and poking me with spades during the rescue.

“We had to think on our feet, for example when five of us tried to lift one turtle and couldn’t we realised we needed a cart.

“When we finally got them into the water they were exhausted, and needed to be held up whilst we cut away the ropes that had been punched through their flippers.”

Turtle meat and eggs are regarded as a delicacy in some cultures and fetch high prices on the black market.

Giant green sea turtles face numerous other threats including boat strikes, loss of habitat due to coastal development and being accidentally caught in fishing nets.

Mr Skone-Roberts has since been awarded a special commendation by Sea Shepherd, which he asked to share with his diving team.

“This was about saving these turtles at all costs and the team did it,” he said. “The best result is that the turtles are back in the ocean."