Coast Guard Saves 220-Pound Turtle Carrying 100 Eggs

When Coast Guard rescuers in Marathon, Florida spotted a struggling loggerhead sea turtle on August 8, they knew every second counted. The 220-pound turtle, later named Roxanne, had fishing line cutting deep into her front flipper.

The team safely hauled her aboard their vessel and rushed her to The Turtle Hospital, the world's first veterinary facility dedicated exclusively to sea turtles. Since opening in 1986, the hospital has treated over 3,000 injured sea turtles.

"It takes a village to get these turtles rescued," said Bette Zirkelbach, the hospital's general manager. The Coast Guard crew didn't just drop Roxanne off. Many stayed to help with her intake exam and X-rays.

Holding down a big, strong turtle for medical imaging is no easy task. But during those X-rays, the technicians discovered something remarkable: Roxanne was carrying 100 eggs and appeared to be heading toward nesting season.

The news added urgency to an already critical rescue. Sea turtle entanglements have been rising during commercial lobster season in the Florida Keys, when trap lines fill the waters where turtles swim.

Sunny's Take

Just two months earlier, the same Coast Guard team had rescued Hope, another loggerhead so badly entangled she needed flipper amputation surgery. Hope is now thriving in rehabilitation with potential for release. But Roxanne's story got an even happier ending.

Her flipper looked swollen but salvageable. The medical team worked carefully to remove the fishing line and assess her condition. Within 24 hours of her rescue, they made their decision: Roxanne was healthy enough to go home.

On August 9, the same guardsmen who pulled her from the water carried her from the hospital van back to the beach. She was tagged so researchers could track her journey and monitor her recovery.

Roxanne paddled back into the waves, carrying her precious cargo of 100 eggs toward nesting season. Her rescue serves as a powerful reminder that properly securing fishing gear can save not just one life, but generations of ocean wildlife.