Two brothers freed a 300-pound sea turtle from fishing line

Two brothers in Panama City, Florida, have spent nearly a decade building monofilament collection bins and wood duck nesting boxes to protect the wildlife near St. Andrew's Bay. The idea started on a family hike through Yellowstone, when John Carl Tilghman, then 7, pointed at litter and his mother, Nancy, suggested he and his brother Wesley start a foundation. They did. Calling themselves the Conservation Brothers, they placed fishing line disposal bins at local marinas. Every time they checked, the bins were full. They once helped Florida Fish and Wildlife workers free a 300-pound sea turtle strangled by line, with John Carl removing every strand before it went back to the Gulf. After Hurricane Michael toppled the trees around their backyard pond, they built predator-proof nesting boxes on poles for the wood ducks. "Every time we check things out, 50 or 60 wood ducks are swimming around," John Carl said. He is now training his cousin to keep it going.