NEW YORK – The Coast Guard rescued a severely injured loggerhead sea turtle in Fire Island Inlet, July 10, 2014.
A boatcrew from Coast Guard Station Fire Island was transiting the inlet when they observed what they thought was a person in the water waving their arms for help. When they maneuvered closer, they realized it was a three-foot turtle with large gashes on its shell.
The watchstander at Station Fire Island contacted the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, who advised the boat crew to recover the turtle and bring it back to land.
“We recovered the turtle, brought it back to the station, and put it in a small wading pool until members from the foundation arrived,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Jason Natti, of Coast Guard Station Fire Island.
The injured turtle was transported to the foundation's rehabilitation center where it was reported to be in critical condition.
Safeguarding protected marine species falls under the Coast Guard’s living marine resources mission, one of the service’s 11 statutory missions.