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As sharks circle, sea turtle trapped in line rescued by Coast Guard off NJ shore

By Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Coast Guard rescues sea turtle in distress Petty Officer 3rd Class Mason Sanders and Petty Officer 2nd Class Carliene Lyon work to free a sea turtle tangled in a fishing trap line Thursday off the New Jersey coast. (U.S. Coast Guard)

By Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

The U.S. Coast Guard doesn’t just rescue people.

The crew of a Coast Guard cutter helped save a sea turtle, which was caught in a fishing trap line, fending off circling sharks off the New Jersey coast on Thursday.

The crew of the Shearwater, an 87-foot-long patrol boat, received a call about a turtle in distress about 11 miles southeast of Cape May, according to a news release.

The boat circled the turtle and distracted the sharks, NJ. com reported.

After the predators left the area, Petty Officer 3rd Class Mason Sanders and Petty Officer 2nd Class Carliene Lyon cautiously approached the turtle and used tools to set it free, the website reported.

“This was the proudest day I’ve had on this cutter,” Master Chief Petty Officer Anthony Martinez, the officer in charge of the Shearwater, said in the Coast Guard release. “Everybody on the crew rallied around and worked together, and we were able to save that turtle.”

Cox Media Group

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