This is the heartwarming moment an endangered sea turtle was rescued after being found on a beach tangled up in a plastic sack.

Lifeguard Morakot Suetrong, 36, noticed the marine creature struggling to free itself on Nai Harn Beach in Phuket, Thailand on August 15.

The doomed green sea turtle was found with a rice sack made from small strands of plastic tightly wrapped around his neck, causing bleeding on his head.

Without urgent help, it would almost certainly have drowned eventually if he had ventured back into the ocean.

But lifeguard Morakot noticed the turtle and called his colleagues for help. They lifted the turtle to safety and started ripping off the waste but still could not untangle the piece tying on its neck since it was too tight to remove it with bare hands.

The animal was finally saved after the staff carefully cut the sharp plastic with a small knife.

Vets at the Phuket Marine Biological Center treated the turtle and he is now recovering well.

Morakot said that he had encountered countless injured and dead marine animals on the shore while he was on duty and blamed pollution from humans.

The lifesaver said: ''I thought he was already dead when I looked at him from afar because he barely moved. I was glad I found him alive and could save him in time.

''Many animals were found washed up ashore caused by the plastic pollution but not all of them were as lucky as this turtle.''

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the green sea turtle as an endangered species.