As a wildlife enthusiast, Amanda’s favorite mornings are usually spent walking along the Indialantic Beach in Florida’s Brevard County, collecting trash and observing marine life activity in the water. But the other day, her peaceful morning routine turned
into an urgent rescue mission when she looked down and saw a helpless baby tangled in seaweed onshore.
Amanda was stunned when she first spotted the baby sea turtle on his back, wrapped from limb to limb in slimy seaweed. At first, he wasn’t moving, and Amanda worried that she’d discovered him too late. But as she looked him over, she saw his tiny limbs flutter, and she quickly jumped to help him.
“I noticed a little movement, and that’s when I realized he was still alive!” Amanda told The Dodo. “He was so tiny and vulnerable, and I couldn’t imagine just leaving him there.”
Although Amanda was far from the only person on the beach that morning, she seemed to be the only one to have spotted the sea turtle, later named Lil Johnny, at all.
“It’s crazy to think how easily someone could have walked right past such a tiny, little creature without noticing him,” Amanda said.
Amanda had no idea how long Lil Johnny had been stranded, and she could tell that every second mattered. So, she immediately began untangling him from the seaweed, one tiny strand at a time.
“I was very careful and gentle while freeing him from the seaweed because he was so incredibly small and fragile,” Amanda said. “I didn’t want to accidentally hurt him.”
You can watch footage from the rescue here:
Amanda held her breath as she pulled the last piece of seaweed off the turtle’s body, then checked him over thoroughly to make sure he was completely freed. Then, she contacted the Sea Turtle Preservation Society to figure out how to best help Lil Johnny.
“They instructed me to bring him to a designated drop-off location, where he could be safely collected,” Amanda said.
Amanda hopped in her car and drove straight to the drop-off location. An hour later, a kind rescuer picked the little turtle up and shuttled him to the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center at Brevard Zoo for extended care.
It’s now been a week since Amanda rescued Lil Johnny, and she still thinks about him every day. She unfortunately hasn’t received any updates about him, since he is just one of many little ones receiving care at the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center. But she is hopeful that he’s recovering well and will eventually be released back into the ocean, “where he belongs.”
Amanda never expected to save a life when she walked onto the beach that morning. But after rescuing Lil Johnny, she can’t help but feel thankful that she crossed paths with the tiny, helpless creature at just the right time.
“The entire experience was incredibly special to me,” Amanda said. “What started as a simple morning picking up trash turned into something I’ll never forget.”
