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This week, four friends were boating on the Jupiter Sound when they saw a massive sea turtle struggling to swim in the water.
Without hesitation, the four men — Chris DeSousa, Will Savery, Michael Pickett, and Tony Anthony — jumped at the chance to help her.
“You know, when you see a beautiful animal like that struggling, it’s just — you can’t just turn your eye away from it, so I jumped in the water right away,” Savery told the West Palm Beach news outlet WPTV. “We saw the opportunity to save an animal, and we took advantage of it.”
But as soon as Savery jumped in the water and got a closer look at the sea turtle, he knew that it would be an all-hands-on-deck situation.
He would later learn that the green sea turtle — which he named Zoey — was a whopping 324 pounds.
“It took a big effort from each of us to pull this thing up,” Savery said.
It should be noted that it is illegal to touch or move a sea turtle, as they are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act.
“Handling sea turtles without proper training and permits is illegal and can cause further harm to the animal,” the Loggerhead Marinelife Center cautions on its website. “Turtles, especially those entangled in fishing gear or showing signs of illness, require professional care. Untrained handling can exacerbate their injuries or introduce infections.”
Even so, Good Samaritan protocols do allow people to intervene in extreme circumstances when an animal is in a life-and-death situation.
“You could tell she’d probably been fighting for hours out there,” Anthony emphasized.
With the four of them working together, the men were able to tie a rope around the sea turtle’s midsection and haul her up on a pier as they awaited assistance from the Loggerhead Marinelife Center.
Unfortunately, once she was out of the water, it became clear that her injuries were more severe than they initially thought. The carapace of her shell was covered in deep cuts from an apparent boat strike.
According to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, Zoey died from her injuries a few hours after she was rescued.
But Savery and his friends said they would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant giving an animal in need a “fighting chance.”
“I think [sea turtles] are a staple of our waters,” Savery said. “When there’s an accident that happens with one, we’ve got to do what we can to save them.”
Marine life boat strikes are unfortunately common in Florida, especially as more people go out on the water in the summer. On May 21, just a few weeks before Zoey’s rescue, the Loggerhead Marinelife Center shared the story of a green sea turtle named Aelin.
“This juvenile green turtle came to us with brutal injuries from an accidental boat strike in the intracoastal waterway in late March,” the rescue center posted on Instagram.
Fortunately, Aelin has a happy ending to her story.
“Aelin is battling her way through recovery and making great progress thanks to customized care by our team,” they said. “After [stabilizing her shell in surgery], Aelin is on the mend and out in one of our larger hospital pools. She is getting regular exams and wound cleaning as she continues to heal.”
The rescue center ended its post with an important reminder.
“Remember to ‘Go Slow for Those Below’ if you are out boating this time of year,” they said. “We can prevent injuries like these just by slowing down and keeping watch for these beautiful turtles.”
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Header image via Will Savery
