Florida College Students Rescue Injured Sea Turtle
Call it divine intervention or just plain old good luck, but members of Palm Beach Atlantic University women's sailing club were in the right place at the right time when a juvenile green sea turtle found itself fighting for its life back in March.
Freshman Aubrey Holloway and senior Corinna Lambright were out training in the intracoastal waterway in West Palm Beach, Florida, when they spotted the turtle struggling, reports WPBF.
Holloway, a marine biology major, recognized that it was having a buoyancy issue.
"I learned that in my classes, and I could spot it," she told the local news station. "I was like, wow. It can't go down to grab food, so it's going to die."
Recognizing the severity of the situation, the students contacted Loggerhead Marine Life Center in nearby Juno Beach. Officials said that if they could catch the turtle and bring it to the facility, they would do what they could to treat it.
Lambright told WPBF that even with the help of a few other sailors, it took them "about an hour" to catch the turtle.
It wasn't easy, but they eventually got the injured creature to shore. The lucky turtle was transported to the Miami Seaquarium where officials determined that it had been struck by a boat propeller.
"It's so cool, I was about to cry!" Holloway recalled.
The turtle, now named Smoothie, is reportedly doing well.
Well done, y'all!
