Sea Turtle Saved By NJ Coast Guard Crew, Rescue Groups (WATCH)

If turtles can’t dive, they can’t eat. And without the help of the U.S. Coast Guard and two marine rescue organizations, that’s what would have happened to an ailing loggerhead earlier this week, authorities say.

The act of compassion took place on Monday about 3 miles east of Cape Henlopen near the Delaware border and involved a U.S. Coast Guard crew from Cape May and staff at animal rescue groups based in West Orange and Lewes, Delaware.

According to the Coast Guard, the incident began when the crew of the 154-foot Lawrence Lawson, a fast-response cutter based out of Cape May, spotted a 250-pound Loggerhead Turtle while on a patrol off the coast of Delaware around 11 a.m.

But there was a problem… it was covered in marine growth and couldn’t dive underwater. And that’s when they knew they needed to call for some expert assistance if they wanted to save its life.

The crew of the Lawson contacted members of the Delaware-based Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute (MERR) and arranged to pick them up in the Lawson’s deployable over-the-horizon small boat while Coast Guard Station Cape May brought members of the West Orange-based Sea Turtle Recovery to the ship.

“Members of MERR and Sea Turtle Recovery knew right away that the turtle was sick because it was floating,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher Taylor, coxswain aboard the rescue craft. “They told us that if turtles can’t dive, they can’t eat, and if we hadn’t helped it, it would have slowly starved to death.”

• See related article: Injured Sea Turtles Rehabbed In New Jersey, Returned To Wild (VIDEO)

With the members of MERR and Sea Turtle Recovery aboard, the crew of the Lawson worked in conjunction with the cutter’s small boat crew to use a cargo net as a scoop to retrieve the turtle.

After the rescuers safely secured the turtle, crew members brought it around to the rear of the Lawrence Lawson to an area called a stern notch, which is used to deploy the cutter’s small boat. The turtle was lifted into the stern notch, where scientists from MERR and Sea Turtle Recovery provided it aid, care and assessed its condition.

Eventually, the ailing animal was brought to Sea Turtle Recovery's rehabilitation facility inside the Essex County Turtle Back Zoo.

• See related article: $2M Sea Turtle Recovery Center Planned For Turtle Back Zoo

As a result, the stabilized turtle – dubbed “Tammie” after the historic Coast Guard Cutter Tamaroa – will live to return to the oceans once again, according to the staff of Sea Turtle Recovery.

“It’s a great feeling for the crew to know that we had a part in saving an animal in jeopardy of becoming endangered,” said Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Rizzo, commanding officer of the Lawrence Lawson.

Watch a video of the rescue effort below.

SAVING SEA TURTLES

While Monday’s rescue may induce smiles, the East Coast’s sea turtle population is still facing significant challenges, some experts say.

According to Sea Turtle Recovery, more than 700 live sea turtles washed ashore in the Northeast in 2014. Only six years ago, the five-year average (2006-2010) was 152 cold-stunned sea turtles. All five species of sea turtles found in the Atlantic Ocean are threatened or endangered due to fishing line entanglement, plastic ingestion and boat strikes, and they are losing natural nesting and feeding sites because of coastal development.

• See related article: ‘Cold-Stunned’ Sea Turtles Sheltered At N.J.’s Turtle Back Zoo

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Photos: U.S. Coast Guard