Coast Guard Rescues Endangered Turtle Off Montauk

Crew members from the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Montauk rescued an endangered leatherback turtle on Monday afternoon.

The Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound command center was notified at 1:30 p.m. that a fishing vessel, Captain Ron, was on scene with an entangled sea turtle in Fort Pond Bay, according to a Coast Guard news release.

Coast Guard members arrived on scene and found the turtle caught in a lobster pod line. They were able to successfully cut the line and free the turtle.

The turtle showed no signs of injury and swam away, officials said.

“The turtle would have most likely died if the crew did not respond to assist,” Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew Foster, a crew member at Station Montauk, said in the news release. “The line was around the turtle’s neck and fin and was getting tighter. We are glad we were able to execute the mission safely and release the trapped turtle quickly.”

The leatherback sea turtle is listed as “endangered” under the U.S. Federal Endangered Species Act, according to the Sea Turtle Conservancy.