Coast Guard Rescues 8 People Near Anclote Key

The U.S. Coast Guard had a busy Friday morning, rescuing a total of eight people in separate incidents in waters off Tampa Bay.

The busy morning began to unfold just after midnight when authorities at the Coast Guard Sector in St. Petersburg were alerted about an unstable craft with four people on board. The craft was estimated to be about a mile northeast of Anclote Key. A boat out of Sand Key and a helicopter from Clearwater were deployed to find the four, an email to media from the Coast Guard stated.

Around 12:50 a.m., officers in St. Pete received a call from Pasco County dispatchers in reference to three people stranded on Anclote Key beach as the waters were rising.

“Due to dense vegetation, the people on the island were unable to get to higher ground,” the email said.

When the Sand Key boat’s crew made it to the area at 2 a.m., its crew pulled four people from the craft that had been reported in trouble earlier. They also rescued a kayaker who was on the scene.

The helicopter crew found the three people on Anclote Key beach and brought them to Clearwater Airport.

Authorities say of the eight people rescued, only one had a cell phone that worked. No one was wearing a lifejacket.

“When you are on an unstable craft, such as a raft or kayak, it is important to always have a lifejacket on,” Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Bonneau, situation unit controller at Sector St. Petersburg, was quoted in the email as saying. “You don’t want to end up in the water without one. It is a matter of life or death.”

Photo Credit: U.S. Coast Guard/Patch File Photo