Image: @gisele / Instagram
“Today I was reminded that we must become more aware of our ways as a species and help protect all animals, it’s our choice.”
Supermodel and well-known animal rights activist Gisele Bündchen has rescued a turtle stranded on the beach.
The 41-year-old businesswoman found the turtle in a pile of ocean trash that had washed during high tide while walking her dog, Onyx.
She posted a video of the rescue to her Instagram on the weekend.
“Life is a series of opportunities that appear daily, and we choose what to do with them. Today was no different,” she wrote in the caption.
“I saw this beautiful turtle turned upside down with a look of hopelessness and exhaustion in her eyes, her body knotted and entangled in a fishing net.
“I immediately started to free her from the net that was strangling her.”
Urging people to be more aware of humanity’s impact on wild animals and the planet, she added: “I felt relieved and so happy to see her swim away freely, grateful that I was there and able to help.
“But there are so many other animals that unfortunately end up dying on nets like this.
“Today I was reminded that we must become more aware of our ways as a species and help protect all animals, it’s our choice.”
Animal activist
Saving the turtle is not one random act of kindness for the Brazilian, Bundchen is also an anti-fur activist.
She stopped wearing real animal fur for any fashion campaigns, after a 2002 Victoria’s Secret runway was stormed by PETA protesters.
The activists gatecrashed the runway as Bundchen was walking with signs that said: “Gisele: Fur Scum”.
Later recounting the incident in an interview with Vogue she said that the “shock” from the incident “stopped me in my tracks”.
“[PETA] sent me all these videos. I wasn’t aware of what was happening, and I was devastated. So I said: ‘Listen, I’m not doing fur campaigns’,” Bundchen said.
Is Bündchen vegan
While Bündchen hasn’t reportedly confirmed that she follows a vegan diet, she and her superstar quarterback husband Tom Brady don’t eat any dairy “products” and their diet consists primarily of vegetables and grains.
“At our house, we try to eat organic foods that are in season and locally grown . . . We eat mostly a plant-based diet,” she told Page Six.
Share this story: Supermodel Gisele Bundchen rescues sea turtle tangled in a fishing net.