PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A stranded loggerhead sea turtle was rescued from the rocky shoreline of Short Beach in Tillamook County on Saturday night.
Volunteer firefighters with the Netarts-Oceanside Fire District hiked out to the beach after receiving a request from Oregon State Police to save the endangered turtle.
The rescue took a team of firefighters as the large sea turtles can weigh up to 250 pounds.
“Our incredible team of volunteers used a webbing stretcher developed by our district chief to carry the turtle through the rain, surf and rocks,” the Netarts-Oceanside Fire District said. “Incredible rescue tonight.”
Loggerhead sea turtles are found in many parts of the world and generally live in temperate subtropical and tropical regions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
The North Pacific population of loggerhead sea turtles was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2011.
Rescuers named the sea turtle “Shorty.” Oregon State Police handed Shorty off to a team of experts in Newport who will try to nurse the turtle back to health.
