LONG KEY, Florida Keys — An off-duty marine resources enforcement officer helped save a loggerhead sea turtle in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Lt. Liz Lyne, a 20-year veteran of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, was boating Saturday, June 19, with some friends and children headed for an eco-tour and snorkel adventure, as well as a beach cleanup on the oceanside of Long Key.
Lyne noticed a sea turtle floundering at the surface and when the group moved in closer on Lyne’s private boat, they saw that the turtle was entangled in a fishing trap line.
Lyne and her friends were able to grab the line and cut it away so the turtle could swim away.
The loggerhead turtle, estimated to weigh about 150 pounds, would likely have died without human intervention.
Lyne said that was the third time she had been involved in the rescue of a sea turtle.
Loggerhead sea turtles are considered “threatened” and are protected by state and federal laws, according to officials at the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital.
