Pregnant sea creature trapped under driftwood for hours in Australia. Then came rescue
Rangers were conducting surveys of crested terns and lesser crested terns on Womer Cay, a tiny plot of land in the northern region of the Great Barrier Reef, when they spotted a sea turtle under a piece of wood, according to a March 21 news release from the country's Department of the Environment, Science, Tourism and Innovation.
As they got closer, rangers saw that it was a female hawksbill turtle, a critically endangered species, according to the department.
The turtle was likely trying to make her way up the shore to lay eggs, rangers said, but had become stuck under the driftwood.
Sea turtles come to shore to lay their eggs at night, so when rangers approached the female turtle at 11 a.m, she had likely been trapped for hours, according to the release.
'Thankfully she was spotted and ranger Joman Tomasello carefully removed her from the log and carried her to the ocean,' ranger Katie Bampton said in the release. 'She would've been stuck for hours and due to the very hot conditions, we believe she wouldn't have survived much longer.'
Tomasello carried the pregnant sea turtle close to the edge of the water and let her return to the sea on her own accord, Bampton said.
'When she was placed in front of the ocean, she took a little bit of time to get moving but eventually swam away,' Bampton said in the release. 'The water would've felt so good, and we're hoping she returned that evening to come ashore and lay a clutch of eggs.'
Rangers said they identified track marks from other female hawksbill turtles and pits of sand where clutches had been laid.
'The rangers who were on that trip are thrilled that we were able to rescue her and send her on her way. These small cays in the Torres Strait and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park are remote but they are extremely important for bird life and turtles,' Bampton said in the release.
Hawksbill turtles have sharp, pointed beaks and are known for being 'small but fast swimmers,' according to the release.
Females nest four times per season and can lay as many as 140 eggs, rangers said. They can travel thousands of miles between where they nest, like Womer Cay, and the reefs where they feed.
Hawksbill turtles are a critically endangered species that can be found across the warm waters of Atlantic and Pacific oceans, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources' Red List of Threatened Species.
As many as 8,000 hawksbills nest on the northwestern coast of Australia and near the Great Barrier Reef, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
'Hawksbill turtles are critically endangered due to the impacts of climate change, accidental capture in fishing equipment and reef habitat destruction,' rangers said in the release.
Womer Cay is off the northern coast of Queensland, Australia's northeastern territory.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
12-08-2025
- USA Today
His 'Yellow Submarine' dream sat in a swamp for decades. Why it was just hauled away.
Thousands of abandoned and derelict vessels around the US pose environmental and navigational challenges. A Florida man's dream to build a 100-foot-long submarine has formally ended after workers hauled the giant steel tube out of a Keys mangrove swamp to be hacked up and recycled. Known locally as the "Yellow Submarine" even though it had mostly rusted to a dirty red, the former piece of industrial equipment was the pipe dream of a Marathon resident who envisioned turning the windowless tube into an eco-tourism attraction. But the man's efforts ran squarely into that old nautical saying: A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into. The vessel had been tucked in a canal on a tiny island called Boot Key since the late 1990s. The then-owner told a reporter in 2008 that he'd rescued the steel vessel from a Chicago scrapyard and had it barged to the Keys, where he planned to renovate it into a powered submarine. He described floating around the erstwhile vessel on a homemade raft and predicted he was close to being finished. But 17 years later, contractors this week surrounded the rusting 100-ton tube with rigging and float bags so they could haul it ashore for recycling. The painstaking $195,000 removal of the vessel highlights the environmental and navigational challenges posed by the thousands of other abandoned and derelict vessels around the United States, from Florida to Alaska, Minnesota and Oregon. Florida law allows the government to seize and remove abandoned vessels, and to charge the owner for the cleanup. The 2008 news article said the then-owner discovered it would cost him $750,000 to get the vessel certified as seaworthy. "There was basically nothing inside ‒ it's just a huge tube," said Brittany Burtner, who oversaw the vessel's Aug. 11 removal. "It was actually still floating." 'It's shocking how much of it can be recycled' Burtner, who is Monroe County, Florida's, senior administrator for marine resources, said abandoned boats can contain everything from diesel fuel to oil and cleaning supplies that can leak into waterways when a vessel runs around or springs a leak. Because of the ongoing legal case involving the now-removed Yellow Submarine, Burtner said she didn't have publicly available information about who currently owned the vessel or why it had been abandoned. She said a 2021 change to Florida law allowed authorities to launch a derelict-vessel investigation after years of it sitting in the canal. Monroe County has been using a Biden-era $3 million federal grant to clean up abandoned vessels, and has already removed about 250 in the past 12 months. "A lot of things had to happen at once, and they all came together this year," Burtner said. "Even though this thing looks like a rust bucket … it's shocking how much of it can be recycled. They're probably going to spend the next month cutting it apart." Working to solve the problem The federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is separately funding the removal of more than 300 abandoned and derelict vessels across six states over the next four years, both on the seacoasts and along the Great Lakes. NOAA is providing $69 million for the work, which also includes removing abandoned fishing gear, tires and marine debris. Burtner said people often buy cheap used boats thinking they'll renovate them, get in over their heads, and then leave them anchored in a quiet cove before boating away. "What will be fairly common is that someone will abandon a boat and it will just sit there at anchor and just slowly fall apart," she said. "It's really hard to tell the difference between a boat that's just sitting there and a boat that's been abandoned. It can take years. It's a difficult problem we're working to solve from many different angles."
New York Post
08-08-2025
- New York Post
700-pound shark caught off Connecticut coast may break state record: ‘Holy Mackerel'
Two Connecticut fishermen reeled in a massive 700-pound Thresher shark that could be the largest ever caught in state waters, according to a report. Ed Lovely, 46, spent over six hours wrestling the powerful predator alongside a friend off the coast of Stonington last Wednesday, ABC News reported. Once out on the water, Lovely strung out a fishing line and recalled thinking, 'Bang, I feel something,' as the hefty fish began pulling, he told the outlet. Two Connecticut fishermen reeled in a massive 700-pound Thresher shark that could be the largest ever caught in state waters. Ed Lovely 'We started fighting from there,' he said. Lovely worked for over six hours into the night with his fishing partner to reel in the 16.5-foot, 700-pound shark, which was longer than his entire boat, he recalled. At one point, he was in complete 'awe' over the shark's mammoth head peeking out of the waters. 'Wow, holy mackerel, look at that shark, it is the biggest shark I've ever seen,' Lovely remembered thinking at the time. Once they completed the harrowing catch, the pair of grown fishermen 'laid on the deck and started laughing like kids, just laying there in the dark with headlamps on,' he said. Since the shark was too big for Lovely's boat, it had to be rigged to the side of the boat — then towed away in a trailer once reaching land, the outlet reported. Lovely is currently in talks with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to see if the catch will break a Connecticut state record. Lovely is currently in talks with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to see if the catch will break a Connecticut state record. Ed Lovely A spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection also confirmed to the outlet that the triumph may qualify for a Marine Trophy Fish Award. Thresher sharks can be up to 20 feet long, according to the NOAA. Lovely's family has since cut up the shark's meat to be shared with family and friends, his wife, Cynthia, told the outlet.
Associated Press
28-07-2025
- Associated Press
Wallis Annenberg, billionaire philanthropist who backed arts, science and other causes, dies at 86
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Wallis Annenberg, the billionaire philanthropist who supported the arts, science, education and animal welfare causes over decades in Los Angeles, died Monday, her family said. She was 86. Annenberg died at home from complications related to lung cancer, the family said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. 'Wallis transitioned peacefully and comfortable this morning to her new adventure,' the statement said. 'Cancer may have beaten her body but it never got her spirit. We will hold her and her wisdom in our hearts forever.' Her name adorns institutions across the Los Angeles area, including the Wallis Annenberg Building at the California Science Center, the Wallis Annenberg GenSpace senior center and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, the world's largest bridge for animals on the move, will open next year over an LA freeway. During her 16-year tenure as president and chief executive of the Annenberg Foundation, the nonprofit organization has donated about $1.5 billion to thousands of organizations in Southern California, the Times reported. Under Wallis Annenberg's leadership, the foundation expanded its philanthropic scope beyond media, arts and education to include animal welfare, environmental conservation and healthcare. Her father, Walter Annenberg, started the foundation after selling his publishing empire, including TV Guide and other publications, in 1989 to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Walter Annenberg died in 2002. Wallis Annenberg was a longtime board member of LA's Museum of Contemporary Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or LACMA. In 2002, she gave $10 million to endow LACMA's director position. 'Wallis Annenberg blessed the Los Angeles community not only with her philanthropy, but also with her guidance about how to improve our community,' said LACMA Chief Executive Michael Govan, who filled that endowed position in 2006. Born in Philadelphia, she moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s after marrying neurosurgeon Seth Weingarten. The couple divorced in 1975. Wallis Annenberg received the 2022 National Humanities Medal from President Joe Biden for her life in philanthropy. She is survived by four children and five grandchildren.
